Kakao Games has raised 140 billion won ($131.6 million) in investment from multiple investors ahead of a planned IPO later in 2018.
As reported by The Investor, Netmarble and two subsidiaries of Tencent led the investment, contributing 50 billion won ($46.9 million) each. The rest was provided by developers Actozsoft and Bluepoint, along with Premier Growth-M&A PEF.
Kakao Games said that all the investors are existing strategic partners. It is working with Tencent and Bluesoft to launch PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds in China, and is launching Actozsoft's Dragon Nest in Q1 2017.
Growth potential
The new wave of investment will be used for acquisitions as part of the company's global growth plans. Kakao Games CEO Namkoong Hoon said that "the latest investment proves our partners appreciate our growth potential."
Kakao folded its own games division into its Kakao Games subsidiary back in August 2017. The subsidiary now has over 550 million users and 10 million DAUs following the merger.
The company has secured the publishing rights to several big games in South Korea, including NetEase's Onmyoji in June 2017. It localised the game entirely for the market, working with over 40 actors on a new voice track for the release.
