Social games giant Zynga is expected to go public later this fall, but its Japanese equivalent KLab is set to IPO on the Tokyo Stock Exchange [TSE] Tuesday, Sept. 27.
KLab is selling shares at 1,700 yen each.
One of the company's most popular mobile games, "Miss Cabaret in Love" puts players in the role of a hostess at a gentleman's club.
KLab received its IPO approval on Aug. 23 and will be listed on the TSE-Mothers -- known as "market of the high-growth and emerging stocks."
The money raised during the IPO is set to go to increased office space related to growth and other costs for networking and other required equipment.
KLab is underwritten by the Daiwa Corporation.
According to Nomura Holdings Inc., initial public offerings in Japan will climb to the highest level in three years as investors regain confidence following the March 11 earthquake that devastated the country.
"The earthquake didn’t affect our listing plan as we don’t have goods and factories, unlike manufacturers,” Takashi Fukuda, who heads business planning at KLab, told Bloomberg. “More companies with unique business models in areas like social media, information technology and the Internet will go public to enhance their credibility and reputation.”
At least 15 Japanese companies are expected to announce their IPOs before Oct. 1, Bloomberg reported.
KLab was founded by Tetsuya Sanada in 2000 and was originally the research division for CyBird, the leading content developer for Japanese telecom world majority holder DoCoMo.
Earlier this year, KLab announced that Cheerz, a social "layer" that runs on top of your browser and allows you to communicate with your Facebook and Twitter friends as you surf the web, would launch in the U.S.
Cheerz displays the icons, that your contacts use on Facebook and Twitter, on the bottom of the screen so when you are on the website you can communicate and "Cheers" your favorite sites with blasts on Facebook or Twitter.
KLab said it would donate all of the revenues made by Cheerz for the three months following the U.S. roll-out to support earthquake and tsunami relief efforts.
SCREENSHOTS
KLab's Cheerz application is a social layer on top of your browser that allows users to chat with their friends while they are on the same website. Users are represented by their Facebook and Twitter icons.
Users can also "Cheers" a site they like and share it with their friends.
