South Korea’s platform giant Naver Corp. has joined forces with CJ Group to acquire the country s leading web novel platform Munpia Inc. in a deal value
Concurrent deal closings by Kakao, Naver: Mere coincidence?
Rivalry evolves into global expansion, new businesses
Jun-ho Cha 8 HOURS AGO
Kakao Japan runs Piccoma, a leading webtoon platform
Early this month, when Anchor Equity Partners was in intense negotiations with Kakao Corp. over the terms of its 600 billion won ($530 million) investment in the South Korean mobile giant s Japan unit, the private equity firm was suddenly given short notice: Anyhow, get ready soon. We need to get the deal done by May 20.
At the time, Anchor Equity had expected to reach an agreement on the investment around the end of May at the earliest. But it had to hurry to meet the new deadline.
South Korea s two online giants Naver Corp. and Kakao Corp. have completed their respective acquisitions of storytelling platforms in the US and Canada, heralding head-to-head competition in the world s largest media and entertainment market.
Naver has closed its 684.8 billion won ($612 million) purchase of a 100% stake in Wattpad, the world s largest web novel platform based in Toronto, it said in a regulatory filing on May 10. It slightly revised up the price of its largest-ever cross-border acquisition.
On Tuesday, Kakao Entertainment Co., majority-owned by the mobile messaging app operator Kakao Corp., said that its board of directors has approved its acquisitions of both US-based mobile fiction startup Radish Fiction Inc. and the third-largest US digital comics platform Tapas Media Inc.