'Oilmoney' Buys More Nexon Shares... Rises to Third Largest Shareholder

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), has acquired additional shares of Nexon. Since the end of January, PIF has increased its holdings by about 3%, becoming the third-largest shareholder.

According to Japan's Electronic Disclosure for Investors' Network (EDINET) on the 16th, Saudi Arabia acquired an additional 1.12% stake in Nexon over eight trading days up to the 10th of this month (settlement date), raising its shareholding to 8.14%.

Since announcing its ownership of more than 5% of Nexon shares at the end of January, PIF has steadily increased its stake over about a month and a half, continuing to purchase shares despite the sudden passing of Kim Jung-ju, Chairman of NXC.

As a result, PIF's cumulative investment in Nexon has expanded to 222.33346 billion yen (23.313 trillion KRW). Its shareholding surpasses that of Japan's Master Trust Bank, which was previously the third-largest shareholder with 8.1%. Nexon’s holding company NXC (28.6%) and its wholly-owned Belgian subsidiary NXMH (18.8%) are the first and second largest shareholders, respectively, collectively holding 47.4% of the shares.

PIF has not disclosed any specific reasons beyond simple investment purposes for its stake acquisition. Industry insiders view this investment, made despite a decline in stock price, as recognition of the growth potential of the domestic gaming industry. Previously, PIF invested over 1 trillion KRW in NCSoft, acquiring a total of 2,032,411 shares (9.26%).

A Nexon representative stated, "While the exact reasons for the investment have not been confirmed, it is believed that the investment was made based on the company's portfolio and the upcoming pipeline of releases."

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