Kakao will complete the transfer of the portal "Daum" business in December this year. The service operator will change on Dec. 1 from Kakao to AXZ (formerly "Daum preparatory new corporation"), a 100% subsidiary.
According to the industry on the 27th, Kakao sent a notice email to users on the 26th informing them of the transfer of personal information and location-based services. The company's position on a sale of AXZ, which will take on the portal business, is that it is "not under consideration at this time."
On May 22, Kakao announced via a filing that it had spun off the Content CIC that had been in charge of Daum to establish a new corporation, and in June changed its name to AXZ. The transfer targets include core services such as Daum News, Daum Shopping, Daum Search, Daum Mail, and Daum Cafe, and the transfer price is 7 billion won. AXZ will complete the transfer of business by the end of this year and take over operations. Yang Ju-il, former head of Content CIC, was appointed CEO, with Park Sung-joon, Ground X CEO, as an inside director, and Oh Won-mun, Kakao's head of accounting, as an outside nonexecutive director. Lee Ho-won, Head of Team of the Member Platform Team, will serve as the youth protection officer.
Some had raised the possibility of a sale of AXZ in line with Kakao's "trimming the fat" stance, but the company drew a line. Chung Shin-a, Kakao CEO, said in a shareholder letter on the 13th that the group's affiliates would be reduced to around 80 by year-end, while in the second half the company would strengthen growth momentum by combining "AI+KakaoTalk."
There are also criticisms that Daum's presence in the search market is minimal. According to the web log analysis site "Internet Trend," domestic search share in Oct. shows Daum at 2.89%, ranking third after Naver (65.15%) and Google (29.25%). Even so, Kakao plans to enhance service competitiveness through an independent decision-making structure that secures expertise and allows for diverse experiments.