The Korea Herald

피터빈트

Naver, LINE execs likely to benefit most from IPO

By Kim Young-won

Published : June 14, 2016 - 17:45

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[THE INVESTOR] The much-anticipated initial public offering of mobile messenger firm LINE Corp. will not only increase the corporate value of the firm, but also be a great financial boon for top executives of the mobile messenger firm, industry watchers said.

Among stock options granted to the firm’s executives, since 2012, 25.6 million shares -- or 14.6 percent of entire shares -- have not been unexercised.

Line chief global officer Shin Joong-ho. Yonhap Line chief global officer Shin Joong-ho. Yonhap

Considering the anticipated offering price of 30,244 won ($25.8), the value of the entire stock options held by the executives will be 770 billion won.

Naver, which wholly owns LINE, did not unveil details of the unexercised stock options and their holders, but Naver chairman Lee Hae-jin, Line’s chief financial officer Hwang In-joon, and Kim Jin-hee, head of Naver’s human resources division, are reportedly stakeholders.

LINE’s chief global officer Shin Joong-ho and LINE’s CEO Takeshi Idezawa are among those who will likely hit the jackpot with the stock options.

The National Pension Service, a state-run pension fund, is the largest shareholder of LINE, with 11.17 percent shares.

The LINE chief global officer received 6.79 million stocks at 344 Japanese yen ($3.25) in 2012 and 3.47 million stocks at 1,320 Japanese yen in 2015.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)