Naver, NC, Kakao "Seize the Global Entertainment Market"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] The competition among IT companies for platforms targeting the global entertainment market is heating up. Each company is taking different approaches such as equity acquisition and exchange, joint venture establishment, and subsidiary mergers to seize market leadership.

Naver’s Aggressive Equity Acquisition and Exchange

According to industry sources on the 29th, the most prominent player in entering the entertainment market is undoubtedly Naver. It is expanding its business area into the entertainment industry by fully utilizing equity acquisitions and exchanges.

Recently, Naver invested a total of 411.8 billion KRW to acquire a 49% stake in beNX, a subsidiary of Big Hit Entertainment. beNX operates the fan platform ‘Weverse.’ Naver plans to integrate this with V Live to create a new global fan community platform. The plan is to expand the fandom culture created by K-pop, led by BTS, and target the global MZ generation (a collective term for Millennials and Generation Z).

Last year, to secure Korean Wave intellectual property (IP), Naver exchanged mutual stakes worth 150 billion KRW each with CJ Group affiliates CJ ENM and Studio Dragon, and recently acquired 100% of Wattpad’s shares for 653.3 billion KRW.

The industry views these aggressive investments as a strategic move to strengthen competitiveness through partnerships with entertainment companies. In the nascent global digital entertainment industry, expanding cooperative relationships aims to gain an advantage in the content battle.

Park Sang-jin, Naver’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO), said in a conference call yesterday, "We are actively pursuing IP business with global content companies," adding, "In the increasingly competitive global online video service (OTT) market, we will strengthen content through webtoon and web novel adaptations via Wattpad and expand secondary IP businesses in the global market."

NCSoft Launches K-pop Entertainment Platform ‘Universe’… Partners with CJ ENM in Joint Venture

NCSoft’s K-pop entertainment platform ‘Universe’ is considered a new competitor to Naver and beNX’s platforms. Launched the day before, Universe is an all-in-one platform where fans can enjoy fandom activities both online and offline via mobile. It connects artists and fans through various content utilizing NCSoft’s IT technology. Pre-registrations for Universe have surpassed 4 million. Fans from 188 countries participated in pre-registration, with overseas users accounting for 80%.

Earlier on the 5th, NCSoft and CJ ENM signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for business cooperation in content and digital platform sectors. The two companies plan to establish a joint venture within the year. Although specific business details have not been disclosed, it is expected that they will combine entertainment business know-how to develop content businesses.

Industry analysts believe NCSoft has collaborated with CJ ENM to strengthen Universe’s content. As the importance of content IP continues to grow in the market, it is anticipated that they will cooperate in areas such as game production using star IPs and video content.

Kakao Merges Subsidiaries to Maximize Synergy

Kakao is also focusing its capabilities on the entertainment business sector. The method Kakao has chosen to gain a competitive edge is through subsidiary mergers. In March, Kakao Page and Kakao M will merge to launch ‘Kakao Entertainment.’

The merger will connect more than 50 subsidiaries and affiliates. Kakao Page has built a network of 16 subsidiaries and affiliates through continuous investment centered on webtoons and web novels, holding about 8,500 original story IPs.

Kakao M manages seven actor management companies and four music labels, as well as numerous drama, film, and production companies. The new merged entity plans to promote the expansion of content IP and business diversification across all entertainment fields based on the IP business know-how and capabilities accumulated by both companies.

The combination of Kakao Page’s platform network established domestically and internationally with Kakao M’s music and video content is expected to further strengthen the competitiveness of existing platform and content businesses.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.