BANGKOK – Line Man Wongnai, the Thai on-demand delivery app backed by Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC, has started preparations for an initial public offering (IPO) in Bangkok that could raise around US$300 million (S$411 million), according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The start-up is working with local advisers, including Kasikorn Securities and Kiatnakin Phatra Securities, on the potential first-time share sale, the people said.
The company is also interviewing international banks to help arrange the offering, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the process is private.
A listing could happen as soon as 2024, they said.
Deliberations are ongoing and details of the IPO, including size and timeline, could still change, the people said.
Line Man Wongnai is aiming for an IPO as early as 2025, its representative said in response to a Bloomberg News query on Wednesday, declining to comment further on other details.
A representative for Kiatnakin Phatra Securities declined to comment, while a representative for Kasikorn Securities did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Line Man Wongnai’s potential offering comes after two of Thailand’s biggest IPO candidates called off their plans.
Siam Cement scrapped the proposed first-time share sale of its chemical unit that could have raised as much as US$3 billion.
Big C Retail Corp, a supermarket chain operator controlled by Thailand’s richest person, also postponed its US$1 billion listing plans.
Thailand has hosted only about $744 million worth of IPOs so far in 2023, down from US$2.3 billion in the same period in 2022, data compiled by Bloomberg shows.
Line Man Wongnai traces its roots to 2010 when four graduates from Chulalongkorn University’s engineering faculty founded Wongnai, an online restaurant review database, its website shows.
In 2020, Wongnai merged with Line Man, Line Corp’s delivery service in Thailand, and created Line Man Wongnai.
The start-up competes with Grab Holdings, SCB X Pcl’s Robinhood app and Delivery Hero’s foodpanda app on food delivery services.
Earlier this month, Delivery Hero confirmed plans to sell its foodpanda business in Thailand, and also in Singapore, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar and the Philippines.
A subsequent report from German media named Grab as a potential buyer, and noted that the deal could be worth just over €1 billion (S$1.45 billion).
If it goes through at that level, the deal would take place at a favourable valuation for Grab and give it the scale it needs to turn operationally profitable by 2023 or 2024, analysts said.
In 2022, Line Man Wongnai raised US$265 million in a series B funding round led by GIC and Line, propelling its valuation to more than US$1 billion.
It also counts BRV Capital, PTT Oil & Retail Business, Bualuang Ventures and Taiwan Mobile among its backers.
Line Man Wongnai in 2023 acquired FoodStory, another Thai start-up that specialises in restaurant point-of-sale systems.
Line Man Wongnai aims to achieve a valuation of over US$10 billion, while seeking to list on Thailand’s stock exchange, Line Man Wongnai co-founder and chief executive Yod Chinsupakul told the Bangkok Post in 2022.
The report did not have details on the IPO. BLOOMBERG
- Additional reporting by Kang Wan Chern
