Mercari prices IPO top of range

New billionaire: Yamada owns almost a third of Mercari at 115 billion yen (US1bil). — Reuters

TOKYO: Mercari Inc priced its initial public offering at the top of the range to sell 130.5 billion yen (US$1.2bil) worth of shares, a valuation that’s set to make its 40-year-old founder a billionaire.

The online marketplace plans to sell 43.5 million shares at 3,000 yen apiece, at the top of the targeted range, including the sale of additional shares via a greenshoe allotment, the company said yesterday. That puts the fortune of founder Shintaro Yamada, who owns almost a third of the company, at 115 billion yen. The indicated IPO price gives Mercari a market value of 406 billion yen, and the stock will begin trading in Tokyo on June 19.