The South Korea Doosan Bobcat Inc., which controls U.S. construction machinery maker Bobcat, applied for preliminary exchange approval for an initial public offering (IPO) planned for this year, according to the Korea Exchange on Monday.
Seoul-based analysts said Doosan Bobcat could have an estimated market valuation of about $3.48 billion.
Top shareholder Doosan Infracore Co Ltd owns 66.6% of Doosan Bobcat. A spokesman for Doosan Infracore confirmed the application and said Doosan Bobcat planned to list this year, but declined to comment about the estimated market valuation.
