LG Uplus Invests in 'Catch! Tiniping' Producer... Full-Scale Content IP Business Launch

Strategic Investment in SAMG

[Asia Economy Reporter Minyoung Cha] LG Uplus announced on the 19th that it has made a strategic investment in SAMG Entertainment (SAMG), the production company behind ‘Catch! Teenieping’, to strengthen its competitiveness in the content IP (intellectual property) business.

SAMG is a domestic content company that has produced popular 3D animations such as ‘Mini Force’ and ‘Super Dino’, possessing strong kids character IPs in the global market. Recently, it has expanded its business areas to the metaverse by developing a metaverse-based education platform and augmented reality (VR) games, and has acquired game specialist developer Enterreal to digitally transform SAMG IP content.

Last year, LG Uplus invested in Monster Studio, which produced ‘Bread Barber Shop’, and Dream Factory Studio, which produced ‘Pang Pang Dino’ and ‘Jellico’, to strengthen its competitiveness in children’s content.

Through this investment, the two companies plan to jointly pursue ▲ kids platform partnerships ▲ development of smart educational tools based on character IP ▲ joint investments in animation and theme parks by 2023. LG Uplus aims not only to differentiate content within its own services and platforms but also to continuously invest in competitive IPs across various fields such as animation, musicals, dramas, and entertainment, thereby discovering new content-centered revenue models.

The two companies plan to discuss business partnerships for kids video platforms. SAMG holds the largest scale of content in Korea, releasing 3 to 4 new 3D animation series and about 1,000 short-form videos annually. Based on this, they plan to launch domestic services within the year, expand to smart TV services, and enter the global market.

They also plan to jointly develop kids products based on character IP. Utilizing various SAMG animation characters as well as LG Uplus’s original characters such as Yoopy, Holman, and Moona, they will develop smart educational tools and sell them through their own online and offline stores. Furthermore, they intend to discuss joint investments related to producing full-length theatrical animations and building large-scale theme parks.

Kim Suhoon, CEO of SAMG, said, “We are pleased to create strong synergy in the kids content business by joining forces with LG Uplus through this investment,” adding, “We will develop various businesses combining LG Uplus’s powerful content platform and SAMG’s global content IP to achieve globally recognized results.”

Lee Deokjae, Chief Content Officer (CCO, Executive Director) of LG Uplus, said, “SAMG has a global influence with a total of 36 million subscribers on its YouTube channels and 28 billion cumulative views on major video platforms such as China’s Tencent, Youku, and iQIYI,” and added, “By combining SAMG’s differentiated content capabilities with LG Uplus’s solid technology and platform, we will continue to lead the kids content market.”

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