Japanese Chat App 'Line' Goes Public Thursday

Japanese messaging app Line will start trading on the NYSE tomorrow, CNBC's Susan Li discussed today.
By Lindsay Rittenhouse ,

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Japanese messaging app operator Line is set to go public on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday under the symbol LN, after the company raised $1.14 billion making it "possibly the biggest tech IPO of the year," CNBC's Kelly Evans reported on "Squawk Box" Wednesday.

Line will offer 22 million of its shares on the NYSE priced at 3,300 yen ($31.54) each. The company's ADS were priced in New York at $32.84 each on Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported.

"(Line) was born in the aftermath of the devastating Japan earthquake back in 2011. During that time telecom infrastructure was damaged and lines were jammed due to the volume of people trying to get in touch with their loved ones," CNBC's Susan Li explained.

As a result, South Korean tech giant Naver created the Line app so people could communicate using the Internet. The app took off after the company added emoji-like characters for users to insert into chats, Li continued.

"And in the anime-obsessed culture of Asia, it was novel back in 2011 and it really caught on," she added.

However, Line is not just a communication tool anymore. Content is now a large source of revenue for the company as it offers online games, TV, music and movies.

Line even partnered with the Walt Disney Co. (DIS) - Get Report  to stream the entertainment giant's content on its app, according to Li.

"Because it's a little bit different, it allows you to not have to interact publicly with all these people on Twitter (TWTR) but just do it with your daughter or your friends," Evans noted.

Shares of Disney are rising by 0.28% to $100.48 early this morning.

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