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19-06-2018, 04:41 PM
Rare Japanese unicorn Mercari closes up 77 percent in market debut
Sam Nussey
June 19, 2018
TOKYO (Reuters) - Flea market app operator Mercari Inc’s shares surged 77 percent in their Tokyo stock market debut on Tuesday, underscoring strong investor appetite for a rare Japanese unicorn bent on U.S. expansion.
Shares rose as high as 6,000 yen in early afternoon trade, hitting their daily limit high and valuing the company at as much as $7.4 billion. The listing makes Mercari the most valuable firm on the Tokyo bourse’s Mothers market for startups, ahead of games and social network company Mixi Inc and robotics firm Cyberdyne Inc.
A popular smartphone app that allows people to trade used items online, Mercari has been downloaded 71 million times in Japan where it has 10.5 million active users. It makes money by charging sellers commission, and expects sales to jump 62 percent to 35.8 billion yen ($325.93 million) this financial year.
Mercari shares already look expensive, said Masayuki Otani, chief market analyst at Securities Japan. While the app is well known in Japan and still growing, it is likely to face more competition at home, he said, with companies such as Rakuten Inc and Start Today Co Ltd offering used-goods services.
Mercari shares opened at 5,000 yen versus their initial public offering price of 3,000 yen. They closed up at 5,300 yen, compared with a 1.8 percent decline in the benchmark Nikkei 225 index.
More details in https://www.reuters.com/article/us-merca...SKBN1JF01B
Sam Nussey
June 19, 2018
TOKYO (Reuters) - Flea market app operator Mercari Inc’s shares surged 77 percent in their Tokyo stock market debut on Tuesday, underscoring strong investor appetite for a rare Japanese unicorn bent on U.S. expansion.
Shares rose as high as 6,000 yen in early afternoon trade, hitting their daily limit high and valuing the company at as much as $7.4 billion. The listing makes Mercari the most valuable firm on the Tokyo bourse’s Mothers market for startups, ahead of games and social network company Mixi Inc and robotics firm Cyberdyne Inc.
A popular smartphone app that allows people to trade used items online, Mercari has been downloaded 71 million times in Japan where it has 10.5 million active users. It makes money by charging sellers commission, and expects sales to jump 62 percent to 35.8 billion yen ($325.93 million) this financial year.
Mercari shares already look expensive, said Masayuki Otani, chief market analyst at Securities Japan. While the app is well known in Japan and still growing, it is likely to face more competition at home, he said, with companies such as Rakuten Inc and Start Today Co Ltd offering used-goods services.
Mercari shares opened at 5,000 yen versus their initial public offering price of 3,000 yen. They closed up at 5,300 yen, compared with a 1.8 percent decline in the benchmark Nikkei 225 index.
More details in https://www.reuters.com/article/us-merca...SKBN1JF01B
Specuvestor: Asset - Business - Structure.