Phew, the takeovers for year 2010 is still going on despite the many deals which took place over the last few months. In the latest report, Gravity, creator of games such as Ragnarok Online and Ragnarok 2, has confirmed the purchase of Barunson Interactive, owning 50.8% of the latter’s stocks. Barunson Interactive id most well-known for its hit MMORPG, Dragonica Online, which is very popular around the world with various localized servers. With the acquisition, Gravity aims to strengthen its development prowess and expand its overseas business. If you have not read, Dragonica (North America) is now under Warp Portal and renamed to Dragon Saga, Gravity’s very own North America MMO portal. Dragonica players from North America should rejoice at the fact they might be getting the newest updates at the fastest speed!
Seoul, South Korea – Sep 28, 2010 (PRN): GRAVITY Co., Ltd. (NasdaqGM: GRVY) (“Gravity” or “Company”), an online game developer and publisher based in South Korea, today announced that it signed an agreement on September 28, 2010 to acquire a 50.8% equity interest in Barunson Interactive Co., Ltd. (“Barunson Interactive”), an online game developer based in Korea. The purchase price is KRW 11,688 million (approximately US$10,126 thousand). The closing of transaction is expected to occur on or about October 25, 2010 subject to customary closing condition. Upon closing of the purchase of the shares, Gravity will acquire control over the management of Barunson Interactive and will be in a position to appoint the majority of the board of directors of Barunson Interactive. Gravity announced that the purpose of the transaction is to strengthen its online game development capabilities and secure quality online game line up.
Barunson Interactive was founded in 2003 and currently has two massively multiplayer online role playing games (“MMORPG”s) commercially offered, Dragonica and Dragonraja, and one MMORPG under development. Dragonica, a three-dimensional side scrolling MMORPG, is commercially serviced in 10 countries including China, Japan and European countries. Gravity entered into a license agreement for Dragonica in the United States and Canada on August 17, 2010.
Mr. Toshiro Ohno, the President and CEO of Gravity, commented “We expect this transaction will create significant value for Gravity and its shareholders as Barunson Interactive has talented online game developers with great experience. We believe it represents an important step forward to secure continuous profit by diversifying our revenue source and create synergy from the two companies’ online game development teams.”
About GRAVITY Co., Ltd. Based in Korea, Gravity is a developer and publisher of online games. Gravity’s principal product, Ragnarok Online??, is a popular online game in many markets, including Japan, Taiwan and Thailand, and is currently commercially offered in 59 markets. For more information about Gravity, please visit http://www.gravity.co.kr.
