À̹ÌÁö È®´ë Kakao Games Corp., eying an initial public offering within the year, bought an equity stake in Korean game developer Action Square for 20 billion won ($18.7 million) to scale up under the parent company¡¯s strategy to bolster mobile contents.
The game developing unit of Kakao Corp., South Korea¡¯s dominant messaging platform operator, said on Wednesday it acquired a 10.43 percent stake in Action Square through purchase of 10 billion won worth each in new and existing shares.
The investment would help finance Action Square¡¯s future development projects and expand Kakao Games¡¯ mobile game portfolio, the two companies said.
Kakao Games aims to release ¡®Blade 2 for Kakao,¡¯ an action role-playing game (RPG) currently under development by Action Square, in the first half of this year. The new title is a sequel to its blockbuster original, which immediately topped Apple App Store and Google Play¡¯s game charts upon its release in 2014 and raked in 100 billion won in revenue in its first year.
The two companies plan to develop a variety of new mobile games that would add to Kakao Games¡¯ lineup and appeal to a broad audience.
Kakao Games in September named an underwriter and plans to go public on the secondary Kosdaq market in the second half.
Shares of Kosdaq-listed Action Square closed Thursday down 3.73 percent at 9,300 won.
By Seo Dong-cheol and Kim Hyo-jin
[¨Ï Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]