S.Korea's Netmarble, Kakao, MBK submit bids for Nexon parent -report (updated)

Netmarble

21/02/2019 11:00

* Korea Economic Daily says U.S. pvt equity firms also bid
    * Media reports have said deal could be worth as much as $9
bln
    * Netmarble & Kakao, both Tencent-backed, had expressed
interest

 (Adds Seoul Economic Daily report, comments from sources)
    SEOUL, Feb 21 (Reuters) - South Korean tech firms Netmarble
 251270.KS  and Kakao  035720.KS  as well as private equity fund
MBK Partners submitted initial bids for acquiring NXC Corp,
which controls  gaming firm Nexon  3659.T , the Seoul Economic
Daily said.
    Kim Jung-ju, founder of Nexon, is looking to offload a 98.64
percent stake in NXC, held by himself and related parties
including his wife, in one of South Korea's biggest deals that
could be worth as much as $9 billion, local media reports have
said.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1Z302N
    Netmarble and Kakao, which are both backed by Chinese social
media and gaming giant Tencent  0700.HK , had earlier flagged
their interest in acquiring control of Nexon, South Korea's
biggest gaming company.
    MBK Partners plans to submit the initial bid for NXC, a
source familiar with the bid told Reuters, adding the deadline
for bidding is noon Thursday New York time.
    Netmarble, Kakao and MBK Partners declined to comment.
    Earlier media reports said Netmarble, which controls over a
quarter of South Korea's mobile gaming market, would partner
with Tencent and MBK Partners in the bid.
    Separately, Korea Economic Daily reported that U.S. private
equity firms Blackstone  BX.N  and Bain Capital also
participated in the initial bids. But Blackstone did not submit
a bid, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
    Blackstone and Bain Capital were not immediately available
for comment.
    Reuters reported in January that Deutsche Bank and Morgan
Stanley are running the sale, according to sources. Deutsche
Bank declined to comment while Morgan Stanley was not
immediately available for comment. 

 (Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin, Kane Wu and Heekyong Yang; Editing
by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
 ((hyunjoo.jin@thomsonreuters.com; 82-2-3704-5685; Reuters
Messaging: hyunjoo.jin.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))