Thrunet, one of Korea’s leading ISPs, will appear on the NASDAQ market in mid-November, the first Korean company to be directly listed.
Thrunet, founded in July
1996, is the nation’s leading high-speed Internet access service provider
with 110,000 subscribers in Seoul, Pusan and five other major cities.
According to a company spokesman, the high-speed ISP will be
listed on November 17, adding that the listing has gone through all
required procedures of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Last month, Thrunet submitted its application for public offering to the
SEC after selecting Lehman Brothers as its lead manager of the company’s
offering of new issues.
The company expects the public offering to be priced at about US$12.00
per share, for a total value of about US$118 million. The capital raised
will be used to build its telecommunications network for the planned
extension of high-speed access service to cover the entire country.
“Listing on the NASDAQ is a
procedure that we must go through to become a global information and
telecommunications service company, and it is the most efficient way to
raise funds for companies like us,” said Kim Jong-Kil, president of Thrunet. “Thrunet has made a huge investment in
facilities and line construction for extension of available service area.”
The company is capitalized at 139.5 billion won (US$116 million) and
employs 450 workers. Currently its major share holders include Trigem
Computer (16.5 percent), Korea Electric Power Co.(9.4 percent) and Microsoft (5.4 percent).