Han Sang-woo, CEO of Kakao Games, said regarding the transaction under which the owner of Kakao Games will change from Kakao to Japan's Line Yahoo, "We have finished consultations between the two companies on the major strategic direction."
CEO Han stated accordingly after meeting with reporters on the 26th right after the regular shareholders' meeting held at the Kakao AI Campus in Yongin, Gyeonggi. Han said, "The two companies have also agreed to cooperate on securing resources for major-shareholder investment or strategic investment," adding, "Talks were held focusing on overseas business investment and strategic investment."
The previous day, Kakao Games announced that an investment-purpose corporation, "LAAA (L Triple A) Investment," funded by LY Corporation (Line Yahoo), would acquire part of Kakao Games' equity from Kakao to become the largest shareholder. When the transaction is completed in May, Kakao, the former largest shareholder, will step back to become the second-largest shareholder.
Asked about a possible company-name change or service-platform changes following Line Yahoo's acquisition, Han said, "Nothing has been discussed at this point," adding, "Both sides' shareholders agreed that it is important to maintain the current stable stance and the business rights that Kakao Games holds." Han added, "At least until we launch this year's major new titles, we will proceed in a way that does not shake the existing structure."
Han also emphasized that the company is focusing its entire capabilities on unveiling new titles in line with the schedule for the second half of the year. Han said, "I think the most important thing is to release major intellectual property (IP) well, and since we have secured additional funds, we should take our time to discover the rest."
At the shareholders' meeting that day, the proposal to reappoint Han as an inside director passed as originally drafted. The agenda to reappoint Oh Myeong-jeon, a professor in the School of Business Administration at Sookmyung Women's University, Noh Jeong-yeon, former chief prosecutor of the Daegu High Prosecutors' Office, and Jeong Seon-yeol, an attorney at Jipyong LLC, as outside directors also passed. Each term is one year.
LAAA Investment, Line Yahoo's investment-purpose corporation, also participated in Kakao Games' third-party paid-in capital increase worth 240 billion won and the issuance of convertible bonds (CB) worth 60 billion won. Kakao Games plans to use the 300 billion won secured through this to improve financial stability and expand its global business.