Line applied for listing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange

According to a Wall Street Journal Web site, a source disclosed on Tuesday that the mobile messaging application Line has submitted application materials for the IPO (initial public offering) and plans to list on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Line valuation may exceed 1 trillion yen (about 9.85 billion US dollars), which will be one of the largest IPO transactions in Japan this year, attracting a great deal of attention from Japanese domestic and international investors. Line provides voice and text messaging services, including a large number of emoticons, games and other features.

The sources said Line may also submit the application materials listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Line will be listed as early as this fall, but it will depend on the approval of the stock exchange.

Line has more than 400 million registered users worldwide and its rivals include Facebook's WhatsApp and WeChat.

Although Line is the most popular in Japan, there are a large number of users in Thailand, Taiwan, and parts of Europe and Latin America. Line currently hopes to enter the United States, China and other markets.

Following WhatsApp's $ 19 billion (about 116.6 billion yuan) worth to sell to Facebook, Line will sell the company to other technology giants will be listed or financing, by the market widespread concern. Line executives have previously said the company intends to IPO. For the Internet giant, the value of mobile messaging applications continue to rise, WhatsApp is a typical representative. But Line's growth shows they can be a revenue-generating tool for using mobile content services. Analysts said Line has been profitable.

Line IPO partners are Nomura Securities and Morgan Stanley.

Line spokesman did not comment on this. (bamboo)