SoftBank’s Yanolja Said to Plan $400 Million IPO as Soon as July

(Bloomberg) — SoftBank Group Corp.-backed South Korean travel app Yanolja Co. is aiming for $400 million in a US initial public offering, people familiar with the situation said.

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The Seoul-based startup’s offering, which may launch as soon as July, could value the company at $7 billion to $9 billion, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley are set to lead the IPO, the people said.

The company hasn’t made a final decision and details of the offering could still change, the people said. Some features of Yanolja’s listing plans were reported earlier by the Korea Times and Invest Chosun.

Representatives for SoftBank, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Yanolja declined to comment.

Yanolja is the latest portfolio company that SoftBank is seeking to list in the public market, as founder Masayoshi Son pivots to artificial intelligence and related hardware. It took Arm Holdings Plc public in the US in a roughly $5 billion listing in September, but still controls the majority of the chip designer.

SoftBank’s Vision Fund II invested about $1.7 billion in Yanolja in 2021. Founded in 2005, Yanolja bought Israeli technology provider Go Global Travel Ltd. last year to become one of the world’s largest travel platforms.

Yanolja has been expanding its cloud arm serving the hospitality and leisure industries to grow beyond consumer trip bookings, competing against rivals such as Airbnb Inc. and Expedia Group Inc.

Last year, Yanolja hired former New York Stock Exchange executive Alexandre Ibrahim as its corporate chief financial officer. It also set up its US office in Manhattan in March as a strategic hub for expanding in North America. The New York office is its 50th overseas.

–With assistance from Yoolim Lee.

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