ＢＴＳ事務所が韓国上場、時価総額１兆円に　ＩＰＯ価格の２倍超に高騰

【ソウルＡＦＰ＝時事】韓国のヒップホップボーイズグループ「BTS（防弾少年団）」の所属事務所「ビッグヒットエンターテインメント」が15日、韓国取引所に上場した。時価総額は11兆ウォン（約1兆円）となり、韓国企業の時価総額上位30位に入った。（写真は韓国ソウルの免税店に掲げられたヒップホップグループ「BTS」のポスター）
　株価は新規株式公開（ＩＰＯ）価格の２倍以上に急騰。同社のパン・シヒョク代表に瞬く間に巨万の富をもたらし、ＢＴＳメンバー７人の資産額も跳ね上げた。
　ＩＰＯ価格は１３万５０００ウォン（約１万２４００円）だったが、株価は上場から数分後には、３３万ウォン（約３万３００円）を付けた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2020/10/15-15:30）

Shares in the management agency of K-pop sensation BTS more than doubled on their stock market debut Thursday, making an instant multi-billionaire of its chairman and boosting the seven band members' own fortunes.
The initial public offering of shares in Big Hit Entertainment saw staggering demand, with the public section oversubscribed 607 times and applicants receiving only a tiny fraction of their requests.
The firm's centrepiece asset BTS have risen to global stardom in recent years, cementing their prominence in the world's biggest music market in August with their all-English track Dynamite topping the US Billboard Hot 100.
The IPO price was set at 135,000 won ($118) but but within minutes of the Kospi exchange opening the stock was trading at 330,000 won, platforms showed.
At that level Big Hit has a market capitalisation of 11 trillion won -- $9.6 billion -- putting it among South Korea's top 30 most valuable companies, and ahead of cosmetics-maker Amore Pacific.
Big Hit founder and CEO Bang Si-hyuk -- who is retaining a stake of more than 36 percent of the firm -- was already worth $1.4 billion at the IPO price, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, and will have seen his net worth soar.
The flotation also boosts the band members' own wealth -- Bang gave each of them more than 68,000 shares in August, worth around $8 million at the IPO price and totalling 1.4 percent of the company.
Analysts had expected the shares to power upwards.
Considering all the information about the firm now available, the IPO price could be the lowest price we will ever see, Park Sung-ho of Yuanta Securities told AFP.
- Reporting for duty -
But there is one inescapable hurdle looming for the newly listing agency: mandatory military service for all seven boy band members, who made their debut in 2013.
South Korea requires all able-bodied men to serve in uniform to defend it against security threats from the nuclear-armed North.
Under the existing conscription laws BTS member Jin -- real name Kim Seok-jin -- aged 27, will have to report for duty by the end of 2021.
The other six members, born between 1993 and 1997, will have to follow in the coming years.
South Korea is currently debating exemptions for stars such as BTS, who have been at the forefront of the Korean Wave cultural phenomenon in recent years and are estimated to generate billions for the country's economy.
But no such dispensations have so far been granted to pop stars, and if they are forced to leave the stage it could blow a hole in Big Hit's finances: BTS were responsible for 97 percent of its revenues last year, according to the IPO prospectus.
Big Hit acknowledged their anticipated absence as a risk factor.
It is looking to expand activities such as contents licensing sales that do not require the artists' direct participation to try to cushion the blow.
But it acknowledged their time off-camera could have a negative impact on the company's profitability and growth.