이 기사는 2021년 10월 19일 08:04 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.

South Korean mobile game publisher Gamevil has made a report of exclusion from the holding companies in an attempt to avoid various regulations applied to a holding company under the fair trade law.

Local fair trade regulations require a holding company’s second-tier subsidiaries to own 100% of their subsidiaries. WYSIWYG Studios, which has recently been incorporated as Gamevil’s second-tier subsidiary, will likely to benefit from the latest exclusion.

Gamevil was notified on October 14 by the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) that it is no longer a holding company, according to the company on Friday. The company made a report of exclusion from the holding companies on October 1.

Under the FTC’s Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act, companies with total assets of 100 billion won ($84 million) or more and companies with a sum of stakes in subsidiaries exceeding 50% of their asset value are subject to conversion to a holding company.

The reason the company made a report of exclusion from the holding companies less than three years after its conversion is because the revised fair trade law requires a holding company to have total assets of more than 500 billion won, up from 100 billion won. Gamevil had total assets of around 217 billion won on a non-consolidated basis as of the end of 2020.

What is notable is that the company voluntarily made its report although the revised act will take effect after six years of a grace period to 2027.

“Under the Fair Trade Act, holding companies face tough regulations on various activities,” said Gamevil. “We will be free from these regulations (through the exclusion) in a situation where our major affiliates are actively making investments.”

Analysts said the move is aiming to expand WYSIWYG Studios’ activities, which has recently been incorporated as Gamevil’s second-tier subsidiary. WYSIWYG Studios is playing a key role in the expansion of new business at the Gamevil Com2uS Group.

It is said that Song Byung-joon, Executive Director at Gamevil, has selected WYSIWYG Studios as a base for additional mergers and acquisitions (M&A) for expansion of content and intellectual property businesses.

If Gamevil maintains its holding company system, its second-tier subsidiary WYSIWYG Studios has to own full stake whenever it invests in other entities. It would be a burden for the company even though the company recently received 200 billion won from Com2uS in addition to its cash reserves of 27 billion won as of the end of last year. (Reporting by Sang-woo Seong)