By Joyce Lee
SEOUL (Reuters) - Netmarble Games Corp, South Korea's largest mobile game company, raised 2.7 trillion won (1.86 billion pounds) after pricing its IPO at the top of the range, making the offering the country's second-largest on record.
The IPO priced at 157,000 won per share, compared with an indicative range that had gone as low as 121,000 won, Netmarble said in a filing.
The firm said this week it plans to use the proceeds of the IPO, plus cash flow this year and borrowings, to raise 5 trillion won for acquisitions.
Netmarble is backed by China's Tencent Holdings Ltd (HK:0700).
The KOSPI (KS11) listing surpasses Samsung (LON:0593xq) BioLogics Co Ltd's (KS:207940) 2.25 trillion won IPO last year and is second only to the 4.9 trillion won IPO of Samsung Life Insurance Co Ltd (KS:032830) in 2010.
The online game industry has recently seen a series of high-profile mergers and acquisitions as firms consolidate to gain market share.
In June, a consortium including Shanghai Giant Network Technology Co Ltd and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (N:BABA) founder Jack Ma agreed to buy Caesars Interactive Entertainment Inc's online games unit for $4.4 billion (3.44 billion pounds).