GIC, PIF invest $924m in Korea's Kakao Entertainment

Kakao said in a filing that it would issue 4.52m new shares to entities controlled by the two investors. The proceeds will be used for operating purposes and to M&A and investment in new business lines.

Kakao Entertainment was formed in 2021 through the merger of Kakao Page, which publishes webtoons, TV dramas, movies, games, and web novels, and music and entertainment unit Kakao M. Anchor Equity Partners invested in Kakao Page – then known as Podotree – in 2016 and Kakao M in 2020. The private equity firm also backed Kakao Japan, which relies heavily on webtoons content.

Kakao Entertainment owns more than 8,500 pieces of original webtoon and web novel content, 62,000 pieces of music, 250 original videos, 15 movies and TV dramas, and 240 other pieces of digital content. It also has in-house production studios, talent, and talent management agencies.

Kakao’s overall revenue was KRW 6.1trn in 2021, of which 53% came from its platform operations – mobile messaging service Kakao Talk and related e-commerce channels, web portals such as Daum, and mobility, payments, and enterprise services – and 47% from content assets. The latter include gaming, music streaming, paid content, and intellectual property distribution.

In the third quarter of 2022, revenue amounted to KRW 1.86trn, with KRW 871.8bn coming from content operations. Gaming was the biggest contributor, accounting for 34% of content revenue, followed by music on 29%, stories on 27%, and media on 10%.

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• Topics
• North Asia
• Media
• Technology
• Expansion
• South Korea
• TMT
• Kakao
• GIC Private
• Public Investment Fund
• Growth capital