WI Prepares to Leap as a Global IP Marketing Company with Secured Funding

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyungsoo Park] WI announced on the 21st that it will issue convertible bonds (CB) to expand its business.

Byun Ikseong, the largest shareholder and CEO, has set a put option (call option) right of 40-50% on the CB. The company plans to secure a controlling stake larger than the current shareholding ratio (31.61%) including related parties.

Regarding previously issued CBs, they have been converted or redeemed, resulting in a total debt of only 7.1 billion KRW as of the end of May. The debt ratio is 16.5%, which the company explains is favorable compared to the average debt ratio of 109.68% for KOSDAQ-listed companies.

The shareholding ratio of CEO Byun and related parties is 31.61% (25,581,953 shares). Amid deteriorated performance in Q1 this year due to the COVID-19 crisis, CEO Byun purchased 526,557 treasury shares (0.65%) on the market to enhance shareholder value.

The cash assets secured through the issuance of convertible bonds will be used to additionally acquire IP for overseas expansion or consider equity investments in companies.

WI is preparing to enter overseas markets through cooperation with the rapidly growing E-Sports industry alongside its IP license-based merchandising business. The company is also actively investing in promising bio IP.

WI succeeded in expanding its collaboration scope from domestic IP to globally competitive IP by signing IP license contracts with Krafton's Battlegrounds around October last year and with LCK (League of Legends Champions Korea) around March this year. Recently, after securing licensing rights for Pinkfong Baby Shark products, the company has acquired IPs such as Battlegrounds and LCK that can target global markets.

A WI representative introduced the company as "the only listed company in Korea that plans, produces, and distributes products using IP licenses, while creating new value across various intellectual property-based industries including characters, brands, content, e-commerce, and bio." They added, "Our goal is to grow into a company like Fanatics.com, a global leader in licensed sports goods."

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