Kakao Corp., South Korea’s dominant mobile messenger operator, said Thursday it has decided to combine its game business unit with its game developing subsidiary Kakao Games Corp. in its push to become a major player in the gaming industry.

With the restructuring, Kakao would focus on its primary role as a mobile platform and work on cooperating with subsidiaries while Kakao Games concentrates on the game business.

“This was a strategic decision for the entire Kakao group to boost our capacity in the game sector,” said Rim Ji-hoon, chief executive of Kakao.

“The merger has revamped Kakao Games into a company devoted entirely to the gaming business, encompassing mobile and PC, virtual reality and augmented reality services,” said Nam Goong-hoon, executive vice president of Kakao Games.

The game unit under Kakao had been involved in the business of game publishing and intellectual property affairs of Kakao Friends, animation characters used in the messenger KakaoTalk.

Kakao Games became part of the Kakao group on August 2015 and merged with Daum Game last year. The company is currently preparing to go public, the first of Kakao subsidiaries to do so.

Kakao has also agreed to merge with Kakao Games Holding, which holds a 41.8 percent stake in Kakao Games.

Shares of Kakao closed Thursday unchanged at 114,500 won ($100.7).

By Shin Hyun-kyu

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]