Krafton to Intensify M&A from This Year... "Large-Scale M&A Planned Within the Year"

Krafton will actively enter the corporate mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market starting this year. The company plans to internalize capabilities in fields beyond gaming, such as entertainment and software, to enhance its corporate value.

Baedonggeun, Krafton's Chief Financial Officer (CFO), stated at the regular shareholders' meeting held on the 26th at the Seoul Trade Exhibition & Convention Center (SETEC) in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, "We will begin full-scale M&A activities starting this year."

CFO Bae added, "Last year, we reviewed and held meetings with 350 game companies worldwide. This year, based on those relationships, we will intensify our M&A efforts."

Earlier, Krafton founder and Chairman of the Board Jang Byeong-gyu also mentioned in an interview with some media outlets, "We have been investigating targets since last year and plan to conduct a large-scale M&A within this year," adding, "We are looking at investment targets in industries including entertainment and software, as well as gaming."

Krafton's management announced on the same day that they will internally review the dividend policy in response to shareholders' opinions. Krafton CEO Kim Chang-han said, "The shareholders' meeting is not a place to promise dividends," but added, "Since we received opinions from shareholders to internally review dividends, we will consider an overall shareholder return policy, including dividends."

At the shareholders' meeting, many questions were raised regarding the stock price, which has remained low compared to the initial public offering price. Shareholders focused on whether Krafton is preparing measures to protect shareholder value beyond the ongoing 160 billion KRW share buyback and cancellation and M&A activities.

Regarding this, CFO Bae said, "Stock prices may not move solely based on shareholder return policies, but the share buyback and cancellation conducted last year had some effect," adding, "I believe it will take time for the company to have a mindset about shareholder returns in the mid-to-long term and to build trust that 'the company is actually implementing it.'"

At the shareholders' meeting, Krafton reappointed existing outside directors and audit committee members and approved a proposal to grant CFO Bae stock options for a total of 80,000 shares.

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