Kakao $1.6 billion majority stake acquisition of Loen Entertainment

Overview:

• Kakao—the company behind instant messaging application KakaoTalk—has acquired 76.4% of Loen Entertainment for W1.87 trillion ($1.6 billion) from two shareholders Star Invest Holdings and SK Planet.
• The deal is Kakao's biggest since its 2014 all-stock merger with web search operator Daum.
• The acquisition was partly funded through a W754 billion rights issue to an investment holding firm of private equity group Affinity Equity Partners and SK Planet.

Katrin Kostadinova - Data analyst