South Korea media giant Kakao Corporation, with over 30 different services including Kakao Games, recently announced that it has procured USD 1 billion in foreign investments. This news come after Kakao held roadshows in Singapore, Hong Kong, New York, London, Boston, and San Francisco with the goal of raising investment in December 2017. The new shares will be listed on the Singapore Exchange in early February. Based on closing prices for January 17th, Kakao has priced the 8,261,731 new shares at USD 121.04 each.
Kakao’s procurement of 1 billion dollar foreign investment via an overseas stock exchange is the largest for a Korean company in the past 10 years. Kakao is expected to pursue mergers and acquisitions (M&As) with global content platforms, with a focus in mobile content businesses, including game, comics, music and video. The company will also seek investment opportunities involving artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies.