NPS joins in TPG-led $125 mn funding for Kakao Mobility

NPS joins in TPG-led $125 mn funding for Kakao Mobility

The National Pension Service has committed $100 million to a TPG consortium that recently raised $116.8 million to invest in Kakao Mobility Co., Sou...

Kakao's fresh e-commerce strategy puts Naver, Coupang on guard

Kakao's fresh e-commerce strategy puts Naver, Coupang on guard

South Korea’s mobile platform Kakao Corp. is set to shake up the country's e-commerce market in the second half of the year with the launch of...

Kakao just behind rival Naver in market cap, may overtake soon

Kakao just behind rival Naver in market cap, may overtake soon

South Korean mobile platform giant Kakao Corp.’s enterprise value is rising backed by its strong business performance, threatening to overtake...

SM Entertainment emerges as next flashpoint for Kakao, Naver rivalry

SM Entertainment emerges as next flashpoint for Kakao, Naver rivalry

As SM Entertainment Co., the label behind the global K-pop phenomenon, is up for grabs in the M&A market, the battle heats up between the countr...

K-pop content platforms team up to take lead in community market

K-pop content platforms team up to take lead in community market

Platform operators targeting global K-pop fans are mired in fierce competition as companies team up to vie for the lead in the fan community platfor...

Kakao joins OTT race with INISOFT acquisition

Kakao joins OTT race with INISOFT acquisition

Kakao Corp. is entering the over-the-top (OTT) streaming market. According to investment banking sources on May 27, Kakao’s entertainment and ...

Concurrent deal closings by Kakao, Naver: Mere coincidence?

Concurrent deal closings by Kakao, Naver: Mere coincidence?

Early this month, when Anchor Equity Partners was in intense negotiations with Kakao Corp. over the terms of its 600 billion won ($530 million) inve...

Kakao Japan secures over $500 mn from Anchor Equity; valuation tops $7 bn

Kakao Japan secures over $500 mn from Anchor Equity; valuation tops $7 bn

Kakao Corp.’s Japanese unit is set to secure 600 billion won ($530 million) from South Korea-based private equity firm Anchor Equity Partners....

Chat fiction app operator eyes global expansion, webtoon market

Chat fiction app operator eyes global expansion, webtoon market

As smartphones have become essential to everyday life, chat fiction -- storytelling in the form of fictional text messaging -- has become popular am...

Naver vs Kakao: Intense rivalry to extend beyond Asia

Naver vs Kakao: Intense rivalry to extend beyond Asia

South Korea's two online giants Naver Corp. and Kakao Corp. have completed their respective acquisitions of storytelling platforms in the US and Can...

Com2uS enters JV to create webtoon based on popular game Summoners War

Com2uS enters JV to create webtoon based on popular game Summoners War

South Korean game developer Com2uS Corp. is expanding its footprint in the storytelling and webtoon industry by setting up a joint venture with lead...

Kakao Pay values itself at above-consensus $14 bn

Kakao Pay values itself at above-consensus $14 bn

Kakao Pay Corp., aiming to list on South Korea's main stock exchange this year, has valued itself at as much as 16 trillion won ($14.4 billion), or ...

Fintech platform Kakao Pay applies for Kospi IPO

Fintech platform Kakao Pay applies for Kospi IPO

Kakao Pay Corp., a unit of South Korea's largest mobile messaging app Kakao Corp., submitted an application for its initial public offering with the...

Naver mulls US listing for webtoon business

Naver mulls US listing for webtoon business

South Korea’s top online portal Naver Corp. is considering more dollar bond sales after it raised $500 million last month in its first foreign...

Kakao Bank applies for preliminary review of 2021 IPO

Kakao Bank applies for preliminary review of 2021 IPO

Kakao Bank, South Korea's No.1 mobile banking app., has kicked off the process to go public by applying for a preliminary review of its stock market...

Naver, Kakao vie for Korean web novel platform

Naver, Kakao vie for Korean web novel platform

Naver Corp. and Kakao Corp., South Korea's two online giants, are competing to acquire Munpia Inc., their smaller domestic rival in the web novel ma...

Kakao Entertainment’s enterprise value seen above $8.9 billion

Kakao Entertainment’s enterprise value seen above $8.9 billion

Kakao Entertainment Corp. is working to make a trading debut on the domestic bourse in the latter part of this year or in 2022 at the latest. And th...

Kakao to buy fashion app, pushing aside eBay Korea

Kakao to buy fashion app, pushing aside eBay Korea

Kakao Corp., South Korea's top mobile messaging app operator, is set to acquire a majority stake in Zigzag, a domestic online fashion platform targe...

Kakao Japan seeks $446 million from Anchor Equity

Kakao Japan seeks $446 million from Anchor Equity

Kakao Corp.’s Japanese unit, which operates Japan’s largest webtoon platform Piccoma, is in talks to attract as much as 500 billion won ...

NHN joins race for top spot in global webtoon market

NHN joins race for top spot in global webtoon market

South Korean content platforms' appetite for webtoons remains strong as major players such as Naver Corp. and Kakao Corp. further ramp up their webt...

Kakao in talks to buy US fiction app in heated IP rivalry

Kakao in talks to buy US fiction app in heated IP rivalry

South Korea's mobile giant Kakao Corp. is in negotiations to buy the management rights of US-based mobile fiction startup Radish Fiction for around ...

Google to buy $50 mn new shares in Kakao Mobility

Google to buy $50 mn new shares in Kakao Mobility

Google Inc. will acquire 56.5 billion won ($50 million) worth of new Kakao Mobility Corp. shares, in a strategic investment in the South Korean mobi...

GS Galtex to partner with Kakao for mobility services

GS Galtex to partner with Kakao for mobility services

South Korea's GS Caltex Corp., aiming to become a logistics platform, will invest around 30 billion won ($26 million) in Kakao Mobility Corp. to str...

French webtoon platform posts over 200% growth via Korean content

French webtoon platform posts over 200% growth via Korean content

South Korea’s online content platform KidariStudio Inc. announced on Mar. 31 that its France-based webtoon arm, Delitoon SAS, logged around 10...

Kakao’s private affiliates post record growth in 2020

Kakao’s private affiliates post record growth in 2020

South Korean tech giant Kakao’s unlisted subsidiaries have posted record-high growth figures for the previous financial year. According to Kak...

Spotify, Kakao settle licensing dispute; K-pop returns to platform

Spotify, Kakao settle licensing dispute; K-pop returns to platform

Spotify Technology S.A., the world's largest music streaming service, has reached a licensing agreement with Kakao Entertainment Corp., to make musi...

Kakao forays into pet taxi service; buys Pet Me Up

Kakao forays into pet taxi service; buys Pet Me Up

South Korea-based Kakao Mobility Corp., a subsidiary of mobile giant Kakao Corp., has acquired the country's leading pet taxi service, Pet Me Up, in...

Kakao to split stock 5-for-1 after share price hits record high

Kakao to split stock 5-for-1 after share price hits record high

Kakao Corp. will split its stock on a five-for-one basis in April, which the South Korean mobile messaging app giant said would make the stock more ...

Kakao's edtech startup eyes 2022 listing

Kakao's edtech startup eyes 2022 listing

South Korea-based edtech startup Yanadoo is the latest affiliate of Kakao Corp., the country's largest messaging app operator, to prepare for an ini...

Carlyle seals $200 mn investment in Kakao Mobility

Carlyle seals $200 mn investment in Kakao Mobility

The Carlyle Group has agreed to buy $200 million worth of new shares in Kakao Mobility Corp. as a pre-IPO investment in the transportation arm of So...

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