Kakao Entertainment
Scope
Date
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Korean games
Korea's top mobile game Odin creator Lionheart eyes IPO in H2
Lionheart Studio Corp., South Korea’s leading game developer behind the mobile game Odin, has begun the process to go public with its July 22 ...
Jul 24, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Tech, Media & Telecom
Kakao steps back from conflict over Google's in-app payment
South Korea’s Kakao Corp. has voluntarily removed an external payment link from the country’s largest messaging app KakaoTalk in complia...
Jul 14, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean games
Kakao-invested game developer Shiftup becomes unicorn startup
Shiftup Co., a South Korean mobile game developer, has joined the ranks of unicorns, or private companies worth $1 billion or more.The studio behind...
Jul 10, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Tech, Media & Telecom
Naver executives’ treasury share sale may signal business slowdown
Executives at South Korea’s platform giant Naver Corp. are selling their shares in the company, an indication that the company’s busines...
Jul 08, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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K-pop
YG's share price surges 6.3% on news of Blackpink’s album release, concert
Shares of major K-pop label YG Entertainment Inc. finished Wednesday's trade 6% higher at 48,950 won ($37.52) a share, on news of Blackpink’s ...
Jul 06, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Future mobility
LG, Kakao Mobility to roll out autonomous delivery robot service
LG Electronics Inc. and Kakao Mobility Corp. have agreed to form a future mobility technology partnership with an aim to jointly launch an autonomou...
Jun 22, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Mergers & Acquisitions
Korea webtoon startup Kenaz acquired by hedge fund
South Korea’s leading webtoon production startup Kenaz was taken over by a domestic hedge fund as it aims to reduce dependence on major platfo...
Jun 15, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Mergers & Acquisitions
MBK Partners in talks to buy Kakao Mobility
MBK Partners, one of the largest private equity firms in Asia, is in talks with the country’s top mobile platform Kakao Corp. to acquire share...
Jun 14, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Webtoons
Korea's small webtoon platforms eye global adult markets
South Korea’s smaller webtoon platforms are targeting the world’s digital adult comics market, in which industry leaders Naver Corp. and...
Jun 08, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Metaverse
Kakao to focus on interest-based platform for global market
South Korea’s online platform giant Kakao Corp. plans to shift its focus to an interest-based platform from its existing acquaintance-based me...
Jun 08, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Future mobility
Kakao Mobility to launch car transport service in June
South Korea’s Kakao Mobility Corp. will begin providing drivers for door-to-door auto transport from as early as mid-June, according to tech i...
Jun 02, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Pre-IPOs
Kakao Entertainment’s fundraising plan hits roadblock
Kakao Entertainment Corp., a unit of South Korea’s mobile platform giant Kakao Corp., is struggling to raise money as surging inflation and ri...
May 27, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Webtoons
Kakao to merge US webtoon, web novel platforms
South Korea’s Kakao Entertainment Co. is set to merge Tapas Media Inc. and Radish Fiction Inc., its webtoon and mobile novel platforms in Nort...
May 19, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Future mobility
LG’s telecommunication unit joins UAM race in Korea
LG Group’s telecommunication unit joined the race for South Korea’s urban air mobility (UAM) to secure a future growth engine in coopera...
May 11, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Earnings
Kakao CEO vows messenger app reform as Q1 misses forecasts
South Korea’s leading online platform operator Kakao Corp. plans to drastically change the way KakaoTalk, the country’s top mobile messe...
May 04, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Metaverse
CJ ENM buys stake in US metaverse firm Hyperreal
South Korean entertainment powerhouse CJ ENM Co. has acquired a minority stake in US metaverse entertainment and media firm Hyperreal Digital Inc., ...
May 03, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Webtoons
Kakao to launch webtoon platform in Indonesia for SE Asia
Kakao Entertainment Co. will launch a webtoon platform in Indonesia, the most populous country in Southeast Asia, to expand the business in the regi...
Apr 27, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean games
Kakao Games invests $15 mn in Playable Worlds for global expansion
Kakao Games Corp., a game publishing unit of Korea’s web service giant Kakao Corp., has invested $15 million in US game studio Playable Worlds...
Apr 22, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Upcoming IPOs
One Store refiles IPO application, changing peer group list
One Store Co., investment firm SK Square Co.'s homegrown app store, is gearing up for an initial public offering to be held in May. The local app st...
Apr 18, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Entertainment
Kakao Entertainment sets up content ecosystem with M&As
Kakao Entertainment Corp., a unit of South Korea’s top mobile messenger app operator, has established its own content ecosystem including crea...
Apr 14, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Tech, Media & Telecom
Naver, Kakao shares to fall further on sluggish outlook
Shares of Naver Corp. and Kakao Corp. are expected to decline further after South Korea’s top two platform giants already lost 20 trillion won...
Apr 12, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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IPOs
Kakao's game unit behind Odin valued at $2.7 bn before IPO
Lionheart Studio Corp., the firm behind South Korea’s popular mobile game Odin, is preparing to go public as early as this year, with its ente...
Apr 12, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean games
Netmarble, NCSoft, Kakao, DoubleUGames on top publisher list
South Korea’s major tech companies such as Netmarble Corp., NCSoft Corp., Kakao Corp. and DoubleUGames were selected among the world’s m...
Apr 12, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Webtoons
South Korean comics platforms dominate global top 10
Six manhwa platforms operated by South Korea’s tech juggernauts rank among the top 10 paid digital comics platforms worldwide. Manhwa is ...
Apr 12, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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K-pop
JYP Entertainment stocks skyrocket 70% in three months
Shares of JYP Entertainment Inc. have been skyrocketing in recent months. The record label stocks jumped more than 70% from its lowest price point s...
Apr 08, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Entertainment
SM Entertainment to find Saudi idols with Princess Haifa
South Korea’s entertainment behemoth SM Entertainment Co. will develop Saudi idols with Princess Haifa bint Mohammed Al-Saud as the kingdom ai...
Apr 07, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Mergers & Acquisitions
Kakao Piccoma acquires Japan’s cryptocurrency exchange SEBC
Kakao Corp., South Korea’s top mobile messenger app operator, has acquired a controlling stake in Sakura Exchange BitCoin (SEBC), a Japanese c...
Apr 05, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Shareholder activism
Activist fund wins over K-pop pioneer at SM Entertainment annual meeting
South Korea’s entertainment behemoth SM Entertainment Co. is poised to have a new outside auditor – a measure expected to bring a much-a...
Mar 31, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Mergers & Acquisitions
Kakao hits snag in $815 mn SM Entertainment takeover plan
Kakao Entertainment Corp. has hit a snag in its talks to buy a controlling stake in SM Entertainment Co., according to those familiar with the neg...
Mar 28, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Entertainment
CJ ENM drops split-off plan; to set up new film studio
CJ ENM Co., South Korea’s entertainment giant, has dropped a plan to carve out its content production business into a new unit in the face of ...
Mar 25, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)