Want a piece of BTS? Soon, you’ll be able to literally buy a share—for $115

K-pop boy band BTS’ management label Big Hit Entertainment is going public. Big Hit is seeking to raise $812 million (P39.3 billion) in its initial public offering (IPO) in October.

In its regulatory filing today, the company registered the price per share at $115 (135,000 won or P5,577).

If the IPO is successful, it will be South Korea’s largest IPO in three years, according to Reuters.

Scheduled to make its first offering next month (no date has been announced yet), Big Hit will offer 7.130 million shares on the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI)—but the demand, according to reports, is 1,000 times more than that. 

According to Reuters, “some 1,420 institutional investors sought shares in the IPO in pre-subscription offers, looking for 1,117 times the number available, the filing said. About 98% said they would pay the top-range price or more.”

Yuanta Securities Korea analyst Park Sung-ho told Reuters, "Big Hit is classified as a kind of global export firm. Not only has it proven its ability to use Youtube, social media for smart market infiltration, it has fandom platform Weverse, which gives unprecedented clarity and control over its revenue sources for a label, and may grow into a true platform player as outside artists increasingly join."

A CNBC report says Big Hit’s announcement raised the prices of other entertainment company stocks listed on the KOSPI. “Shares of YG Entertainment were up nearly 10%, JYP Entertainment were higher by 8.36% and SM Entertainment jumped more than 6%.”

Apart from managing BTS, Big Hit is also the company behind Parasite, Bong Joon-ho’s film which won awards at the Oscars, the Golden Globe and Cannes Film Festival. The movie made $179 million from box offices in 205 countries. 

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