Korea s Kakao Buys Radish, Tapas Storytelling Apps for $950 Million
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UPDATED: Serialized fiction app Radish is being acquired by Kakao Entertainment, the entertainment arm of Korean internet giant Kakao, in a transaction valued at $440 million. In addition, Kakao Entertainment said it is buying Tapas Media, which says it has more than 3 million readers of its short-form online mobile content, for $510 million.
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“Tapas and Radish are two amazingly powerful storytelling platforms, and we welcome them into the Kakao Entertainment family with open arms as we rapidly ramp up our global operations,” Jinsoo Lee, CEO of Kakao Entertainment, said Tuesday in a statement Tuesday announcing the deals. “The partnership with Tapas and our webtoon IPs has already borne fruit and given us even more confidence in the North American marketplace. Radish gives us the platform to publish our web novels for the first time there, a
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.