All seven members of South Korean K-pop group BTS are set to become multi-millionaires, when their label Big Hit Entertainment goes public in October.
Soaring demand for shares in Big Hit has given it a market valuation of £3.2bn ($4.1bn), with shares priced at the top of the expected price range.
Big Hit boss Bang Si-hyuk, who owns 43% of the management label, will become a billionaire.
In August, he gave each BTS member 68,385 shares, worth £6.2m in total.
Currently priced at between 105,000-135,000 won (£70.03-£88.70) per share, Big Hit expects to raise about £638.3m with the sale of 7.13 million new shares when it is listed on Korea’s Stock Exchange, the KOSPI, on 15 October.
BTS set a new record on Monday when it took just hours for underwriters to find investors to take a stake in the firm when order books opened, with demand 1,000 times higher than the available stock.
According to CNBC, die-hard BTS fans in South Korea are hoping to buy at least one share in the management label to support their favourite members.
What is even more striking is that this is South Korea’s largest IPO in three years.
It’s a sign that BTS’ popularity has not waned, despite the group being forced to cancel their world tour due to the coronavirus pandemic, and the risk that some of the members may soon have to do two years of compulsory military service.
In 2019, BTS generated 97% of Big Hit’s sales last year, and 88% this year.
