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Kakao Games acquires 10.4% stake in mobile game developer

Collected: 2018.01.18

Distributed: 2018.01.19

Source: Go Direct

Kakao Games Corp., eying an initial public offering within the year, bought an equity stake in Korean game developer Action Square for 20 billion won ($18.7 million) to scale up under the parent company’s strategy to bolster mobile contents.

The game developing unit of Kakao Corp., South Korea’s dominant messaging platform operator, said on Wednesday it acquired a 10.43 percent stake in Action Square through purchase of 10 billion won worth each in new and existing shares.

The investment would help finance Action Square’s future development projects and expand Kakao Games’ mobile game portfolio, the two companies said.

Kakao Games aims to release ‘Blade 2 for Kakao,’ an action role-playing game (RPG) currently under development by Action Square, in the first half of this year. The new title is a sequel to its blockbuster original, which immediately topped Apple App Store and Google Play’s game charts upon its release in 2014 and raked in 100 billion won in revenue in its first year.

The two companies plan to develop a variety of new mobile games that would add to Kakao Games’ lineup and appeal to a broad audience.

Kakao Games in September named an underwriter and plans to go public on the secondary Kosdaq market in the second half.

As of 1:32 p.m., shares of Kosdaq-listed Action Square were down 2.8 percent at 9,390 won.

By Seo Dong-cheol and Kim Hyo-jin

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