Coupang's Prospects for Nasdaq Listing This Year Continue to Emerge

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheol-hyun] Since the beginning of the new year, the possibility of Coupang, a domestic e-commerce company, listing on the U.S. stock market has been raised repeatedly. Bloomberg News reported on the 7th, citing sources, that at least six companies invested in by Japan's SoftBank, including Coupang, are preparing for initial public offerings (IPOs) this year.

Bloomberg projected Coupang's IPO timing to be in the second quarter of this year. The company's valuation could exceed $30 billion.

Meanwhile, on the 11th, reports emerged that Coupang recently passed the preliminary review for listing on the U.S. Nasdaq through its lead underwriter Goldman Sachs and could be listed as early as March.

Regarding this, Coupang has not commented on whether it will go public but reiterated its previous stance that "there is no change in the plan to pursue an IPO when the time is right."

The speculation about Coupang's Nasdaq listing has been ongoing. In recent years, every time foreign executives such as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Chief Accounting Officer (CAO) were recruited, it was interpreted as preparation for a Nasdaq listing.

Coupang has achieved rapid growth every year by promoting its fast delivery service "Rocket Delivery," which uses direct purchasing and its own delivery personnel. As aggressive investments continued, the scale of losses also increased, with operating losses exceeding 1 trillion won in 2018 and losses in the 700 billion won range in 2019. However, the securities industry also holds the view that Coupang could turn profitable within a few years.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.