À̹ÌÁö È®´ë [Photo provided by Kakao Entertainment]
Korean platform giants have come to dominate web fiction domain in North America with Kakao Corp. taking over U.S.-based web cartoon platform Tapas and web novel platform Radish with a spending over near $1 billion, following Naver Corp. which has completed $600 million acquisition Canada-based storytelling platform Wattpad.
Kakao Entertainment, contents unit of Kakao, said Tuesday that its board of directors approved a plan to acquire North America¡¯s web cartoon platform Tapas and web novel platform Radish for $510 million and $440 million, respectively.
À̹ÌÁö È®´ë [Photo provided by Kakao Entertainment]
Founded in 2012 in San Francisco as North America¡¯s first digital comic app, Tapas posted a five-fold increase in sales in 2020 from the previous year, the company said. Tapas became Kakao Entertainment¡¯s overseas subsidiary in November last year.
Radish is web fiction app based in New York. Its annual sales last year increased 10 times from a year ago thanks to its brisk intellectual property (IP) business.
¡°The acquisition of Tapas and Radish will give us an opportunity to advance as a global content company,¡± said Kakao Entertainment CEO Lee Jin-soo. ¡°We have strengthened our competitiveness by combining our IP business capabilities and knowhow with insight of Tapas and Radish.¡±
Kakao will be competing with its domestic rival Naver that has established a firm foothold as a content service provider with services like Naver Webtoon in the North American market.
À̹ÌÁö È®´ë Naver completed its purchase of Canada-based storytelling platform Wattpad for $600 million earlier this month.
Wattpad is the world¡¯s biggest web fiction app with more than 90 million global users. It has 1 billion content created by more than 5 million people, and monthly app usage time reaches 23 billion minutes, according to Naver.
¡°The consolidation of Wattpad and Naver Webtoon will create a global storytelling giant,¡± said Naver Webtoon CEO Kim Jun-gu. ¡°We will provide the best experience and insight to global users and creators by combining Wattpad¡¯s numerous stories with Naver Webtoon¡¯s advanced technology and verified paid services.¡±
By Pulse
[¨Ï Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]