Kakao Games to push ahead with Odin developer IPO Gaming firm’s plan to take its subsidiary Lion Heart public faces shareholder concerns
Translated by Ryu Ho-joung 공개 2022-05-10 08:20:21
이 기사는 2022년 05월 10일 08:14 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.
Kakao Games, the gaming unit of South Korea’s Kakao Corp, is set to push ahead with plans to take Lion Heart, one of its game studio subsidiaries, public despite concerns from shareholders.Lion Heart, the developer of hit mobile game Odin, is one of Kakao Games’ key revenue sources. Odin, which was released last summer, generated revenue of 400 billion won ($313.4 million) for only 110 days until early November, compared to Kakao Games’ consolidated revenue of 466 billion won in the July-September quarter.
Kakao Games’ plans to list shares of Lion Heart sparked a strong backlash from shareholders who are concerned about the potential negative impact of the listing on the parent company’s market value. The stock price of the gaming firm, which went public on Kosdaq in September 2020, has slumped by more than 20% since the game studio’s initial public offering plans were reported in early April.
Kakao Games has the right to publish games developed by Lion Heart in the domestic and overseas markets except China. This is a reason for some to react less negatively to the IPO plans because the game developer’s earnings growth would lead to increased cash flow to Kakao Games.
Lion Heart plans to use the IPO proceeds to develop new games, which if successful could help drive up its parent company’s game publishing revenue.
“I believe if Lion Heart’s value is unlocked, this will help increase Kakao Games’ value,” Cho Hyuk-min, finance head of Kakao Games, said in the company’s first-quarter earnings call on May 3.
Executives and employees of Lion Heart collectively hold a relatively large amount of shares in Kakao Games. Kim Jae-young, chief executive officer of Lion Heart, 2.78% of the gaming firm, only behind Kakao Corp CEO Namgoong Hoon’s 3.06% among individual shareholders, according to a regulatory filing on May 3. Kim’s stake is even larger than Kakao Games CEO Cho Kye-hyun’s 0.19%. Kim Beom, art director of Lion Heart, also holds 0.15% of Kakao Games.
This means they are strongly motivated to add the value to the parent company. The two executives of Lion Heart bought their stakes in Kakao Games at 77,100 won each in its capital increase in November last year. The purchase price was lower than the then market price of between 90,000 won and 110,000, but the company’s share price recently fell to around 58,500. (Reporting by Won-ji Hwang)
< 저작권자 ⓒ 자본시장 미디어 'thebell', 무단 전재, 재배포 및 AI학습 이용 금지 >
관련기사
best clicks
최신뉴스 in 전체기사
-
- 우리금융 "롯데손보 M&A, 과도한 가격 부담 안한다"
- 신한캐피탈, 지속성장 포트폴리오 리밸런싱 체계 강화
- 하나금융, ELS 악재에도 실적 선방…확고한 수익 기반
- 하나금융, 자본비율 하락에도 주주환원 강화 의지
- 국민연금, '역대 최대 1.5조' 출자사업 닻 올렸다
- [도전 직면한 하이브 멀티레이블]하이브, 강한 자율성 보장 '양날의 검' 됐나
- [퍼포먼스&스톡]꺾여버린 기세에…포스코홀딩스, '자사주 소각' 카드 재소환
- [퍼포먼스&스톡]LG엔솔 예견된 실적·주가 하락, 비용 절감 '집중'
- [퍼포먼스&스톡]포스코인터, 컨센서스 웃돌았지만 주가는 '주춤'
- 신한금융, ‘리딩금융’ 재탈환에 주주환원 강화 자신감