Kakao Corp., the country’s largest mobile messaging service, agreed to buy Daum, the second largest internet portal. Daum will be renamed Daum Kakao which will have a market value of over 3.4 trillion won and be listed in October .
At a joint press conference held at The Plaza Hotel on May 26, Daum and Kakao announced a 3.3 trillion won merger deal, bypassing the IPO process. The goal is to maximize competitiveness in an ever-changing environment. The deal will be put up for approval in a shareholders’ meeting in August.
The merger would boost the two companies’ competitiveness: While Daum will better compete with Naver, the country’s dominant internet portal site, Kakao will be able to accelerate its expansion overseas, especially in Southeast Asian countries.
Choi said “The tie-up will create synergy between the two by taking advantage of Kakao’s competitive mobile platform and Daum’s content, technology, services, and specialized workforce.”
Also, Lee said “The merger will pave the way for us to gain competitive edge in the concentrated mobile messaging market and expand both at home and abroad.”
