Nexus will acquire the domestic app market ONE store.
Nexus said on the 18th that it agreed to acquire 84.63% equity of ONE store Co., Ltd. from SK Square, Naver, Steel Number One Jeilcha, and Krafton for about 62.6 billion won.
The equity ratio by seller is SK Square (45.78%), Naver (24.06%), Steel Number One Jeilcha (17.02%), and Krafton (2.17%). Once the transaction is completed, Nexus will hold 89.03% equity in ONE store, becoming the largest shareholder and securing management control.
The scheduled acquisition date is on the 29th of this month.
Nexus specified the purpose of the acquisition as "creating synergies among core businesses and securing future growth engines through the acquisition of a controlling equity stake."
SK Square, Naver, and Krafton will participate in this acquisition as strategic investors in Nexus.
On the same day, Nexus said it will issue a total of 17,171,788 new shares to SK Square, Naver, and Krafton via a third-party allotment paid-in capital increase to raise about 39.5 billion won. The allocation ratios are SK Square 70.5%, Naver 27%, and Krafton 2.4%.
It will also issue bearer, coupon, unsecured private convertible bonds (CB) to raise an additional 21.2 billion won. The bond maturity date is June 26, 2031, and the maturity interest rate is 3%. The total amount to be secured through the capital increase and CB issuance is 60.7 billion won. That is similar in scale to the ONE store acquisition price.
With this acquisition, Nexus plans to expand ONE store from a simple app market into a game-centric platform. Having built a full-stack game platform across web shops, payments, community, quest platforms, streamer platforms, and reward systems in the global market, Nexus plans to combine this with ONE store and develop it into a "game hub."
It will also push global expansion based on Blockchain. Nexus set a goal to nurture the global version of ONE store into the world's first web3 game store. Unlike the restrictive policies of existing app markets, it plans to support web3-native experiences in and out of games and equip related functions such as wallets, stablecoins, decentralized exchanges, staking, and bridges. It also presented a goal to establish itself as a single global build platform for web3 games and lead growth across the web3 game industry.
Nexus will also pursue brand unification. The mainnet of its on-chain game platform, "CROSS," will be renamed "OneChain," and its native token, "$CROSS," will be renamed "$ONE."
Jang Hyun-kuk, CEO of Nexus, said, "We will deliver more enjoyable experiences to players and more powerful solutions to game developers," adding, "Amid a paradigm shift driven by AI and Blockchain technology, we will strive relentlessly until we achieve our vision of becoming the No. 1 global game platform."