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The Korea Herald
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THE INVESTOR
March 29, 2024

Mobile & Internet

Netmarble eyes M&As ahead of IPO

  • PUBLISHED :January 25, 2017 - 16:42
  • UPDATED :January 25, 2017 - 16:56
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[THE INVESTOR] South Korea’s leading mobile game company Netmarble Games will seek merger and acquisition deals with overseas firms ahead of its listing this year, the company revealed on Jan. 18.

With Netmarble’s recent revenue exceeding expectations and its higher corporate value, the industry is closely monitoring its allocation of investments and global strategy. One of its recently launched game “Lineage 2 Revolution” more than doubled its forecast sales. As a result, its market capitalization is valued at close to 14 trillion won (US$12 billion), with the game expected to generate 2 trillion won sales. 




“Since huge funds are required to pursue overseas M&A deals, most of the revenue is expected to be utilized for M&A deals,” said Bang Jun-hyuk, chairman of Netmarble, when asked about the allocation of funds at the press conference on Jan. 18.

During the press conference, Netmarble showcased 17 new games, a majority of them being mobile games for the global market. Bang noted that many of the games, primarily for China and Japan, will be developed and specifically tailored to satisfy local customers. The company’s emphasis on the global markets is not too surprising as the proportion of overseas sales jumped from 28 percent in 2015 to 51 percent in 2016.

For the North American and European market, Netmarble plans to capitalize on strategy games as supposed to MMORPG. Most of the M&A deals are expected to be conducted in these regions as Bang illustrated the difficulties in creating a strategy game that will be appealing to local customers without the regional expertise. 

In 2016, Netmarble acquired the US game company SGN for 150 billion won and utilized 1 trillion won of its funds to acquire Kabam’s Vancouver studio. The company is expected to continue this trend as it plans to acquire more local game developers.

By Alex Lee (alexlee@heraldcorp.com)

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