TechnologyS.Korea s Kakao to buy two U.S. storytelling apps for $950 mln
Joyce Lee
3 minute read
South Korea s Kakao Entertainment Corp said on Tuesday it was acquiring U.S.-based online comic app Tapas and serialized fiction app Radish for $510 million and $440 million, respectively.
The purchase will make Kakao, the online comic, talent agency and movie-making unit of South Korean tech giant Kakao Corp (035720.KS), the latest South Korean entertainment firm to expand in North America as Korean entertainment s global reach widens. We are planning to engage the North American market in earnest through the intellectual property (IP) business through the acquisitions, Kakao Entertainment Chief Executive Officer Jinsoo Lee told Reuters.
Serial fiction app Radish acquired by Kakao Entertainment for $440M
Serialized fiction app Radish will be acquired by Kakao Entertainment in a transaction valued at $440 million. Kakao Entertainment is owned by Kakao, the South Korean internet giant whose services include its eponymous messaging platform. Radish founder Seungyoon Lee will hold onto his role as its chief executive officer, while also becoming Kakao Entertainment’s global strategy officer to lead its growth in international markets.
Radish claims millions of users in North America, and the acquisition will help Kakao Entertainment expand its own webtoons and web novel business there, and in other English-speaking markets. Radish will retain management autonomy and continue operating as its own brand.
Press release content from PR Newswire. The AP news staff was not involved in its creation.
Kakao Entertainment Acquires Tapas and Radish Media, Two Leading U.S.-based storytelling platforms
May 11, 2021 GMT
Kakao Entertainment Acquires Tapas and Radish Media
SEOUL, South Korea, May 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ Kakao Entertainment signed definitive agreements on May 7 to acquire two storytelling platforms based in the U.S., Tapas Media, Inc. (hereafter Tapas) and Radish Media, Inc. (hereafter Radish). The acquisitions pave the way for Kakao Entertainment to expand its original content business in North America and other English-speaking regions. The company has already secured a dominant market share in Japan through its affiliate comic platform Piccoma.
Kakao Buys Tapas For $590 Million Dollars, Launch DC Comics Webtoons bleedingcool.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from bleedingcool.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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.