S.Korea's Netmarble to form consortium for Nexon holding company bid (updated)

Netmarble

31/01/2019 03:48

* Netmarble latest to show interest after rival Kakao
    * Netmarble, Kakao are both backed by Tencent
    * Sources say Tencent interested in bidding too
    * Controlling stake in NXC could be worth around $9 bln

 (Add share prices, background)
    SEOUL, Jan 31 (Reuters) - South Korean gaming firm Netmarble
 251270.KS  said it will form a consortium to bid for a
controlling stake in Nexon's  3659.T  holding company, the
latest to show interest in a deal that could be worth about $9
billion after Kakao  035720.KS .
    Both Netmarble Corp and Kakao Corp are backed by Tencent
Holdings Ltd  0700.HK  and, according to sources, the Chinese
tech giant too is considering a bid.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1ZT3ZO
    Kim Jung-ju, founder of Nexon, the country's biggest gaming
company, plans to sell a 98.64 percent stake in NXC Corp, held
by himself and related parties including his wife, the Korea
Economic Daily newspaper has reported.   
    Selling the stake to overseas companies would weaken the
competitiveness of the industry in the country, said Netmarble,
which controls over a quarter of South Korea's mobile gaming
market. Tencent has a 17.66 percent stake in Netmarble. 
    "We believe the tangible and intangible values of Nexon are
important assets to Korea," Netmarble said in a statement,
adding it had been considering acquiring Nexon for two months
and decided to participate in the bid a month ago.
    Nexon shares rose more than 2 percent after Netmarble's
announcement on Thursday, in a flat wider market  .KS11 .
    South Korea's top chat app operator Kakao, in which Tencent
holds a 6.7 percent stake, said last week it was reviewing a bid
for Nexon's holding firm. 
    A 98.64 percent stake in NXC would be worth between 8
trillion and 10 trillion won ($7.1 billion and $8.9 billion),
according to South Korean local media reports.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1Z302N
    Founded in 1994, Nexon has developed more than 80 live games
in over 190 countries, including IP-franchise hits such as
MapleStory, Dungeon & Fighter, Sudden Attack and KartRider.
    Tencent owns the exclusive licence to operate Dungeon &
Fighter in China. The world's largest gaming company by revenue
was hit hard by a freeze on approvals for new titles in China
last year, which wiped billions of dollars off its market value.
    China has resumed handing out approvals since December and
some Tencent titles have since been green lit, although the firm
is still waiting for a ruling on its blockbuster PlayerUnknown's
Battlegrounds.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1ZO3G1

 (Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
 ((hyunjoo.jin@thomsonreuters.com; 82-2-3704-5685; Reuters
Messaging: hyunjoo.jin.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))