This article was displayed on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove (MM) site at 3:59 p.m. on Jan. 16, 2026.
NHN Bugs, well known for the homegrown music service "Bugs Music," will be sold to NDT Engineering. The sale appears to have been decided as the company faced difficulties due to declining market share amid intensifying competition in the music streaming market. NHN said of the background to the sale of NHN Bugs that it "considered management efficiency through selection and concentration in the content business."
However, there is some skepticism about the identity of the unlisted NDT Engineering and the background of the acquisition. People familiar with the matter said there is talk that stock manipulation forces, including Yang Nam-hee, who was investigated by the special counsel on Kim Keon-hee, are involved in the acquisition.
According to the investment banking (IB) industry and the Financial Supervisory Service electronic disclosure system on the 16th, NHN Bugs will sell all 6,710,120 shares (54.26%) held by existing largest shareholder NHN to NDT Engineering and the Green Harbor & Bugs No. 1–3 funds. NDT Engineering will act as a strategic investor (SI), while the investment funds will provide support as financial investors (FI). The sale price is 5,170 won per share, and the transaction aggregates 34.7 billion won. The balance payment date is Mar. 9.
NDT Engineering, which is acquiring NHN Bugs, is a comprehensive manufacturer of automatic non-destructive inspection equipment and has recently entered the aircraft parts machining and assembly business. It has strengths in manufacturing aircraft parts and fuel tanks for space launch vehicles.
As it acquires a music service company unrelated to its core business, the market is reacting with questions, and some officials say NDT Engineering is expected to use the cash held by NHN Bugs to move into other businesses rather than the music service business. The talk is that NHN Bugs' core business will be separated through a spin-off and resold.
The businesses cited as spin-off targets are B2B-centered music distribution and the playlist album service "Essential." The music distribution business invests in music production and then secures "neighboring rights" for a certain period to generate distribution revenue. As a kind of music license distribution business, it is the only one among NHN Bugs' businesses that is in the black.
Essential provides curated playlists through a YouTube channel with 1.5 million subscribers. Although the revenue generated by the YouTube channel itself is not large, it is expected to be spun off in view of its growth potential and synergy with the music distribution business.
The expected sale prices of the two businesses total 28 billion won, with 25 billion won for the music distribution business and 3 billion won for Essential. NHN is said to be the leading candidate to buy back the two businesses. If the spin-off takes place, the actual acquisition price of NHN Bugs by NDT Engineering would effectively drop to around 5 billion won.
After NHN Bugs spins off its core businesses, only the shell role as a listed company would remain, prompting concern in the market. Allegations have also been raised that stock manipulation forces are involved in the deal. People familiar with the matter said the buyer side includes a person surnamed Yang, Nam-hee, a Well Biotec official linked to Kim Keon-hee, as well as people surnamed Yoo, Cho and Kim, who are known as stock manipulation players.
An official said, "The NHN Bugs share price surged and then fell ahead of the sale disclosure," and noted, "It is the result of artificially setting the price to bring the NHN Bugs purchase price into the 5,000-won range."
According to the capital market industry, they plan to transform NHN Bugs into a drone-themed stock. NDT Engineering is said to be discussing cooperation in drone manufacturing and services with China's major drone company EHang Holdings.
NDT Engineering did not offer a separate position on this. An NDT Engineering official said, "At this stage, it is difficult to talk about whether there are discussions on new businesses."