Kakao Holds First Overseas IR for Group Companies... Accelerates Investment Attraction with SM Acquisition

Kakao, together with its affiliates, has embarked on overseas investor relations (IR) presentations. This is the first time Kakao has conducted overseas IR at the community level. With the acquisition of SM Entertainment (SM), Kakao has added a global business propulsion engine and has begun full-scale investment attraction.

From the 3rd to the 6th, Kakao is holding the 'Kakao Group Investors Day 2023' in Hong Kong and Singapore. Attendees include not only Kakao but also Kakao Games, Kakao Bank, Kakao Pay, Kakao Brain, and Kakao Healthcare.

This is the first time Kakao and its affiliates have jointly conducted overseas IR. Previously, Kakao conducted overseas IR alone. Last year, it met investors in Asia including Singapore and Tokyo, Europe including London and Amsterdam, and the Americas including New York and San Francisco. Listed affiliates such as Kakao Bank and Kakao Pay also separately held IR sessions for overseas investors.

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Kakao Brain and Kakao Healthcare are participating in overseas IR for the first time through the Group Investors Day. Since this is an opportunity to introduce themselves to overseas investors, Kim Il-du, CEO of Kakao Brain, and Hwang Hee, CEO of Kakao Healthcare, will attend in person.

The Kakao community is meeting investors together to secure the necessary funds for overseas expansion. They aim to explain the overall business and present new business visions to attract investment at the community level. Kakao was able to acquire SM for 1.4 trillion KRW after many twists and turns, thanks in part to support from Kakao Entertainment. Earlier this year, Kakao Entertainment received 1.2 trillion KRW in investment from an overseas sovereign wealth fund and contributed 700 billion KRW toward the SM acquisition.

Kakao plans to accelerate its global business this year, leveraging the SM acquisition. Holding competitive intellectual property (IP) overseas, Kakao will combine its IT technology and IP business capabilities to speed up the realization of 'Beyond Korea.' Beyond Korea is a future vision to increase the overseas sales ratio from the current 20% to 30% by 2025.

Affiliates are also driving overseas business. Kakao Pay has signed a business agreement with 'PayPay,' Japan's number one QR payment operator, to expand overseas payment services. Kakao Games plans to release its flagship game 'Odin' in Japan, North America, and Europe, and launch 'Eversoul' in Japan. Kakao Brain, a future growth engine, plans to start AI medical diagnostic services such as chest X-ray reading based on the Korean language-specialized large AI model 'KoGPT,' beginning in Australia.

A Kakao official said, "Through joint IR, overseas investors will be able to better understand not only Kakao but also other community-listed companies. We expect to enhance understanding of mid- to long-term growth by presenting blueprints in AI and healthcare, fields in which Kakao is actively investing."

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