[IPO Spotlight] Millie's Library Confident in Growth of Paid Subscribers

Estimated Sales This Year 48.3 Billion KRW → 113.8 Billion KRW in 2025
Paid Subscribers 1.51 Million Last Year → 6.17 Million in 2025
Considering Launch of Publishing Platform... Amateur Writers Also Serializing Content

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyungsoo Park] Millieosseojae, the largest reading platform in Korea, will be listed on the KOSDAQ market next month. The funds raised through the initial public offering (IPO) will be invested in acquiring additional content and launching a publishing platform. The capital will also be used to produce popular novels into audiobooks, webtoons, and web dramas.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system on the 11th, Millieosseojae plans to offer 2 million new shares. The expected public offering price range is 21,500 to 25,000 KRW per share, with a total offering size of 43 billion to 50 billion KRW. A demand forecast will be conducted for institutional investors over two days from the 25th to the 26th, after which the public offering price will be finalized. The company aims to be listed on the KOSDAQ market next month. Mirae Asset Securities is the lead underwriter.

Founded in 2016, Millieosseojae launched Korea’s first subscription-based e-book service in October 2017. It offers reading content as well as audio books, audio dramas, and chat books (chat-based reading content) based on book IP. In September last year, it was acquired by Genie Music and joined the KT Group. The reading content provided by Millieosseojae amounts to 120,000 titles, making it the largest reading platform in Korea. As of August this year, the number of publishing companies with supply contracts exceeded 1,500. The cumulative number of members increased from 2 million in 2019 to 5.5 million in August this year.

Revenue grew at an average annual rate of 61% from 2019 to 2021. Last year, revenue was 28.9 billion KRW with an operating loss of 14.5 billion KRW. In the first half of this year, revenue reached 21 billion KRW and operating profit was 1 billion KRW. Millieosseojae, which recorded losses until last year, is pursuing listing using the profit non-realization special case (Tesla requirement) method. General public investors will receive a put-back option allowing them to sell at 90% of the public offering price.

Mirae Asset Securities, the lead underwriter, selected three comparable companies?Kidari Studio, D&C Media, and Mr. Blue?to estimate Millieosseojae’s appropriate corporate value. Based on the average price-earnings ratio (PER) of 27.98 times for these three companies and applying annual discount rates to next year’s estimated net income, Millieosseojae’s corporate value was estimated at 276.1 billion KRW. Applying a discount rate of 21.65% to 32.62% to the per-share valuation of 31,909 KRW, the proposed public offering price range was set at 21,500 to 25,000 KRW.

Millieosseojae presented performance estimates through 2025. Revenue is expected to increase from 48.3 billion KRW this year to 74 billion KRW in 2023, 93.6 billion KRW in 2024, and 113.8 billion KRW in 2025. The growth in revenue is expected to be driven by an increase in paid subscribers from 1.51 million last year to 6.17 million in 2025.

The company is considering a publishing platform as a new business item. The publishing platform refers to a platform where not only established authors but also amateur writers can serialize content online. Popular works among customers can be published as physical books in collaboration with publishing companies. Original works secured through the publishing platform can be produced into secondary content to increase added value.

CEO Seo Young-taek founded Millieosseojae in 2016 and has grown it into the largest reading platform in Korea. He graduated from Seoul National University with a degree in Computer Engineering and earned an MBA from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. Based on about 25 years of experience at Jangbaek Information & Communication, Boston Consulting Group, Woongjin ThinkBig, and Woongjin PassOne, he founded Millieosseojae in 2016. Seo, who served as CEO of Woongjin PassOne and Woongjin ThinkBig, experienced subscription services that allowed children’s digital content to be used on book pads.

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