BTS members eye $21 mn windfall each from agency’s IPO

The seven members of the global boy band BTS may see their shares in Bit Hit Entertainment Co. rocket to as high as 24 billion won ($21 million) each when their label debuts on the Seoul stock market next week.

They were collectively awarded 478,695 shares in Big Hit, which is set to raise 962.6 billion won through the initial public offering of 7.13 million shares.  It priced the IPO at the high end of its indicative range at 135,000 won last week.

Based on the IPO price, shares held by BTS' seven members -- RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V, and Jungkook -- are worth 9.23 billion won ($8 million) each. The seven members co-write and co-produce their music, together becoming the first Korean group to reach the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 list with their latest single, “Dynamite.”

If Big Hit shares surge to their daily limit of 351,000 won on the Oct. 15 debut, BTS individual members' shareholding in the entertainment company will shoot up to 24 billion won each. Its founder and Chief Executive Officer Bang Si-hyuk also will see his 45.1% stake in Big Hit swell to 4.3 trillion won, rendering him the fifth-richest man in South Korea in terms of shareholdings. Bang's share value will likely surpass that of shares held by Chung Mong-koo, chief executive and chairman of Hyundai Motor Group.

Big Hit's IPO pulled in 58.4 trillion won with shares oversubscribed by 607 times during the Oct. 5-6 public subscription. It marked the second-highest subscription amount to date in Korea, outperforming the 31 trillion won raised by SK Biopharmaceuticals Co. in June, but fell slightly short of that raised for Kakao Games Corp.'s September IPO.

Other major shareholders in Big Hit include Korean game company Netmarble with a 25.22% stake; domestic private equity firm STIC Investments with 12.24%; and China-based VC Legend Capital.

Write to Ye-jin Jun and Geun-ho Im at ace@hankyung.com