Exciting WEBTOON Announcement
06.03.2024
We are at an exciting moment in WEBTOON’s history as we announced our intent to become a public company through an initial public offering (IPO) by filing a Form S-1 registration statement this past Friday, May 31st, with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
We know that you may have questions about this announcement and how it impacts you as a creator or user on the WEBTOON platform. Let us take a moment to explain why we are taking this step and what it means for you.
When Junkoo Kim, WEBTOON’s CEO, founded the company in 2005, he wanted to create a platform that empowered creators to share stories and fans, like himself, to discover unique content. At that time, storytelling was confined to traditional formats, and he knew we needed to pioneer something different. Thus, WEBTOON was born, and we made it our mission to create a content format that was not only easily accessible and highly engaging for fans, but also easier for Creators to create and share their stories with a wide audience.
Over the last two decades, we have pioneered a cultural movement by revolutionizing the webcomic storytelling format and democratizing content creation and publication. This has created a vibrant global community on our platforms that is at the core of everything we do, and has grown to 24 million Creators with approximately 170 million monthly active users in over 150 countries around the world as of the quarter ended March 31, 2024.
As we enter this next phase for WEBTOON, continuing to foster connection and engagement across the community of users and Creators who are so central to our future success will always be a top priority. A potential IPO will allow us to invest in our business and continue to grow this vibrant global community.
Importantly, we want to assure you that, in the process of pursuing a potential IPO, we remain committed to supporting Creators, helping you share your stories, build a global audience, and make money from your work. WEBTOON will continue to operate business as usual and we do not anticipate any impact to our Creator or user community through this process; we hope to empower more Creators and bring webcomics and webnovels to more fans than ever before. We believe this is the next step in our growth journey as we build our Creator ecosystem and enable the creation of one of a kind content.
We want to thank you for your commitment to WEBTOON. The community you have created by sharing unique stories on our platform and engaging with one another has been pivotal to our ability to reach this moment, and we look forward to continuing on this journey with you.
Sincerely,
The WEBTOON Team
The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined. WEBTOON applied to list its common stock on The Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol “WBTN.” The offering is subject to market conditions, and there can be no assurance as to whether or when the offering may be completed, or as to the actual size or terms of the offering.
Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and Morgan Stanley are acting as lead bookrunning managers for the proposed offering. J.P. Morgan and Evercore ISI are acting as active bookrunning managers for the proposed offering. Deutsche Bank Securities, UBS Investment Bank and HSBC are acting as joint bookrunning managers. Raymond James and LionTree are acting as co-managers.
The proposed offering will be made only by means of a prospectus. A copy of the preliminary prospectus relating to the proposed offering, when available, may be obtained by visiting EDGAR on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) website at www.sec.gov or from any of the following sources:
● Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, Attention: Prospectus Department, 200 West Street, New York, NY 10282, by telephone at 1-866-471-2526 or by email at prospectus-ny@ny.email.gs.com
● Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, Attn: Prospectus Department, 180 Varick Street, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10014 or by email at prospectus@morganstanley.com
● J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY 11717, or by email at prospectus-eq_fi@jpmchase.com and postsalemanualrequests@broadridge.com
● Evercore Group L.L.C., Attn: Equity Capital Markets, 55 East 52nd Street, 35th Floor, New York, NY 10055, by telephone at (888) 474-0200, or by email at ecm.prospectus@evercore.com
A registration statement on Form S-1 relating to these securities has been filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission but has not yet become effective. These securities may not be sold nor may offers to buy be accepted prior to the time the registration statement becomes effective.