Messaging app Line mulls U.S., Japan IPO, report says

The popular messaging app, Line, owned by Asia's Naver Corp, is preparing an initial public offering in the United States and Tokyo as soon as November, Bloomberg reported Tuesday, citing people who were familiar with the matter.

The company was working on the IPO with Morgan Stanley and Nomura Holdings, the report said.

The app, popular in Japan and one of the world's largest with some 450 million users, could command a valuation of more than $10 billion, the sources were cited as saying.

Line has not yet decided on a stock exchange, the size of an IPO or which investment bankswould underwrite the offering, Bloomberg said.

Naver and Line were not available for comment outside of Asian business hours. Officials atMorgan Stanley and Nomura were not immediately available for comment.

Investor interest in mobile messaging apps has grown in the wake of Facebook's record $19 billion acquisition of WhatsApp, which pushed up industry valuations and cast a spotlight on the rapidly expanding market.

AT&T raises full-year revenue outlook for second time

 AT&T Inc T.N raised its full-year revenue forecast for a second time, citing strong growth in its equipment installment plan even as its service revenue stagnated.

The No. 2 U.S. telecom services provider said on Tuesday it now expects full-year revenue to increase 5 percent, compared with its prior forecast of 4 percent.

AT&T shares inched up 0.3 percent at $35.55.

By the end of 2014, analysts expect two-thirds of AT&T's postpaid wireless customers to be on its NEXT pricing plan, which unbundles device payments from mobile service payments. Due to the growing popularity of the plan, the company said it expects no service revenue growth in the second quarter and lower average revenue per user.

Net subscriber additions to the company's wireless services are expected to exceed 800,000 in the second quarter, it said, well above Wall Street estimates of 525,000.

AT&T reaffirmed its full-year forecast for adjusted profit, margins, capital expenditure and free cash flow.

The company, which is scheduled to report second-quarter results on July 23, said it expects to report sales of about 3.2 million AT&T Next smartphones in the current quarter.

AT&T also expects increased content costs on its wireline business, a concern the company has said drove its $48.5 billion bid on DirecTV last month.

Bitcoin entrepreneur settles SEC charges over stock sales

A well-known proponent of the electronic currency bitcoin agreed to pay nearly $51,000 to settle U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission civil charges that he publicly offered unregistered shares in two Internet ventures, the regulator said on Tuesday.

Erik Voorhees, 29, published prospectuses and solicited investors through the Bitcoin Forum website to buy shares in FeedZeBirds and SatoshiDICE, both of which he co-owned, without first registering the offerings as required under federal securities law, according to the SEC.

The settlement calls for Voorhees to give up $15,844 in profit and interest, and pay a $35,000 fine. He did not admit or deny wrongdoing.

Voorhees is also a founder of Coinapult, which lets users transfer bitcoin via email or messaging service. The virtual currency is transacted independent of central control, and is not backed by any government or central bank.

"All issuers selling securities to the public must comply with the registration provisions of the securities laws, including issuers who seek to raise funds using bitcoin," said Andrew Ceresney, head of the SEC enforcement division.

Brian Klein, a lawyer for Voorhees, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Klein has also worked for the nonprofit Bitcoin Foundation, which advocates use of the currency.

The SEC said Voorhees helped raise 2,600 bitcoins in May 2012 through the sale of 30,000 shares in FeedZeBirds, which promises to pay bitcoins to Twitter users who forward sponsored text messages.

It also accused Voorhees of helping raise 50,600 bitcoins from August 2012 to February 2013 through the sale of 13 million shares of SatoshiDICE, a gaming website that pays out casino-like winnings in bitcoin.

SatoshiDICE was sold last July for more than $11 million, Voorhees said at the time.

According to the SEC, the value of bitcoin has fluctuated since Voorhees' first unregistered offering from about $5 to $1,200 per bitcoin.

Rogers, Vodafone announce partner market deal

Rogers Communications Inc, Canada's biggest wireless company, and Vodafone Group PLC, the global telecoms group, announced a new market agreement on Tuesday to broaden the services they offer each other's customers.

They did not provide many details on the scope of the partnership or the terms, but said the non equity deal will make Rogers the exclusive partner of Vodafone Canada, and that they will explore new business opportunities.

Vodafone, the world's largest mobile phone company with networks from Australia toIndia, in the Middle East and across Europe, said its scale will allow Rogers to make more money and cut more costs.

Canaccord Genuity analyst Dvai Ghose said the deal likely cements existing roaming agreements, but is positive for Rogers because the Canadian company has been challenged by the development of a shared next-generation network built by wireless competitors BCE Inc and Telus Corp.

The agreement, presumably, will also help Rogers win multinational corporate customers with business in Canada, Ghose wrote in a note to clients.

Rogers' new chief executive officer, Guy Laurence, who joined the Canadian company late last year from Vodafone's UK unit, said the partnership will give Rogers access to resources and expertise, allowing it to improve services for its customers.

Shares in Rogers rose 0.3 percent to C$44.58 on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Vodafone was down 0.75 percent at 207 pence in London.

Software maker Kinaxis trims expected price of planned offering

Kinaxis Inc trimmed the expected offer price of its initial public offering on Tuesday, in a sign that market demand for the Canadian software company's equity issue may not be as hot as originally expected.

The Ottawa-based company, which provides software to help with supply chain operations, now plans to raise C$100.6 million ($92.34 million), it said in a regulatory filing. It previously said it expected to raise between C$108.4 million and C$123.8 million,

The stock is are now set to price at C$13 a share, compared with the previous price range between C$14 and C$16.

The offering is being structured as an IPO combined with a secondary offering from Kinaxis's current investors, private equity firms HarbourVest, based in Boston, and TechnoCap, based in Montreal, the company said in the filing.

Kinaxis is selling 5 million shares from its treasury, with the remaining 2.74 million being sold by the two fund managers. Following the close of the deal, HarbourVest will retain a roughly 14.7 percent stake in the company, while TechoCap will hold about 23.3 percent, the filing said..

Those stakes could be reduced a bit, if BMO Capital Markets and Canaccord Genuity Corp, the firms book-running the deal, opt to purchase a further 1.6 million shares to cover for any over-allotments.

Kinaxis said it plans to use proceeds from the deal toward debt repayment and for general corporate purposes.

The offering is expected to close on June 10. Shares in the company are set to trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "KXS".