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Kakao Ent. Co-CEOs Deny Reports of Company's Sale, Claim Reports are 'Misunderstanding'
posted on by Wonhee Cho
Korean business media outlet Hankook Economy reported on April 8 that Kakao, one of the biggest tech companies in Korea, has signaled its intention to sell its subsidiary Kakao Entertainment, stepping away from its long-held plan to take the company public.
According to investment banking sources, Kakao had sent a letter to key shareholders of Kakao Entertainment, including Anchor Equity Partners, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), and Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC, outlining its plan to divest management control.
However, on April 10, Kakao Entertainment Co-CEOs Ki-su Kwon and Yoon-jung Jang addressed recent articles of a company sale, stating in an internal bulletin that the speculation was “a misunderstanding” stemming from Kakao's ongoing discussions with financial investors regarding equity changes and the potential replacement of current investment partners.
Kakao Entertainment has been preparing for an IPO since its earlier days as Kakao Page in 2019. However, the company faced setbacks, including controversy over a potential "split-listing" strategy, and ultimately suspended the process.
Kakao Entertainment is currently valued at around 11 trillion KRW (approximately US$8.2 billion), based on a 1.2 trillion KRW investment from PIF and GIC in early 2023. Potential buyers include major gaming companies such as NCSoft and Krafton, large entertainment firms like HYBE, and leading private equity funds.
Kakao Entertainment operates three core business segments: music (talent management), story (webtoons and web novels), and media (content production). In 2022, Kakao Entertainment invested approximately 1 trillion KRW, around US$770 million at the time, to acquire the North American web novel and webtoon platforms Radish and Tapas.
Sources: Hankook Economy, (Jong-kwan Park, Joon-ho Cha, Da-eun Choi), YNA (Kyung-yoon Kim)
