Seoul, Oct 15 (AFP/APP):Shares in the management agency of K-pop sensation BTS more than doubled on their stock market debut Thursday, making an instant multi-billionaire of its chairman and boosting the seven band members’ own fortunes. The initial public offering of shares in Big Hit Entertainment saw staggering demand, with the public section oversubscribed 607 times and applicants receiving only a tiny fraction of their requests. The firm’s centrepiece asset BTS have risen to global stardom in recent years, cementing their prominence in the world’s biggest music market in August with their all-English track “Dynamite” topping the US Billboard Hot 100. The IPO price was set at 135,000 won ($118) but but within minutes of the Kospi exchange opening the stock was trading at 330,000 won, platforms showed. At that level Big Hit has a market capitalisation of 11 trillion won — $9.6 billion — putting it among South Korea’s top 30 most valuable companies, and ahead of cosmetics-maker Amore Pacific. Big Hit founder and CEO Bang Si-hyuk — who is retaining a stake of more than 36 percent of the firm — was already worth $1.4 billion at the IPO price, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, and will … Continue reading BTS management agency stock doubles on market debut