South Korean mobile games developer and publisher Kakao Games has applied for a preliminary screening to go public on the Kosdaq.

As reported by The Korea Herald, Kakao Games is looking to float on South Korea’s second-tier stock exchange, the Kosdaq. Should it pass the screening process it will likely launch its IPO by the end of 2018.

According to Samsung Securities, the company has an estimated value of $1.4 billion.

IPO preparations

The company was formed in 2016 after messaging app firm Kakao folded its games division into the new subsidiary, which also included merging Daum Games into the business. The publisher reportedly has over 10 million DAUs across its portfolio, with a total of 550 million.

As recently as February 2018, Kakao Games raised $131 million in investment ahead of the planned IPO. Investors included Netmarble and two subsidiaries of Tencent.

The publisher has seven games currently slated for launch in 2018, including the upcoming RPG Blade 2.

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