Kakao Confirms Employee Stock Option Grants at General Meeting... Approves Stock Split and Melon Spin-off

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporters Kang Nahum and Boo Aeri] Kakao approved a proposal to grant stock options to its executives and employees at the shareholders' meeting held on the 29th. The company also finalized the stock split and the spin-off of the Melon business division.

On the morning of the same day, Kakao held its regular shareholders' meeting at its headquarters in Jeju Island and presented the agenda to approve the 905,000 stock options granted to a total of 324 employees in May and September of last year, which was passed.

Kakao has been gradually granting stock options to employees since March 2017. In particular, last year in May, 895,000 stock options were granted to 323 employees, and in September, 10,000 stock options were granted to one employee. This amounts to over 150 billion KRW, making it the largest scale of stock options Kakao has decided to provide to its members.

Kakao explained, "Through the board resolution, stock options were granted to secure long-term employment conditions and provide incentives to executives and employees who have contributed or have the ability to contribute to the company's management and technological innovation."

The agenda for the stock split was also processed on the same day. Previously, Kakao held a board meeting last month and announced that it would conduct a stock split by dividing one common share into five shares. At that time, Kakao explained the stock split as "to expand the number of circulating shares." Accordingly, the par value per share decreased from 500 KRW to 100 KRW, and the total number of issued shares increased from 88,704,620 shares to 443,253,100 shares.

Additionally, Kakao passed the agenda to spin off the Melon business division and establish Melon Company. The plan is to combine various content business capabilities such as music, video, and stories to build a business foundation that can secure a competitive edge in the global content market.

Other agendas passed included raising the remuneration limit for registered directors from 8 billion KRW to 12 billion KRW, and reappointing Professor Choi Se-jung of Korea University’s Department of Media Studies, Professor Jo Gyu-jin of Seoul National University’s Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, and Assistant Professor Park Saerom of Sungshin Women's University’s Department of Convergence Security Engineering as outside directors.

Yeo Min-soo, co-CEO of Kakao, stated at the shareholders' meeting, "We will not only demonstrate financial improvements by continuously driving growth in various businesses and monetizing business models, but also enhance corporate value through ESG management."

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