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The Korea Herald
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THE INVESTOR
March 29, 2024

Mobile & Internet

Kakao seeks W500b funding for KakaoTaxi

  • PUBLISHED :May 02, 2017 - 17:25
  • UPDATED :May 07, 2017 - 15:26
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[THE INVESTOR] In its ongoing push for global expansion, Kakao plans to spin off its mobility business unit and sell a 30 percent stake in the new entity to private equity firms for 500 billion won (US$442 million), news reports said on May 2.

TPG and ORIX are cited as potential bidders for the stake, according to the reports. They are reportedly doing due diligence on the division’s key service KakaoTaxi that has seen little profits since its 2015 launch. 




Both equity firms were not immediately available for comments.

“The company is considering several ways to push for the growth of online-to-offline services, including securing more funding, but nothing has been decided yet,” Kakao’s PR manager Kane Lee told The Investor.

Kakao’s taxi-hailing service has secured 14 million users over the past two years, with the total call number exceeding 330 million. Unlike Uber that has yet to secure a footing here due to resistance from taxi drivers, the Korean service has teamed up with some 290,000 cab drivers.

Along with KakaoTaxi, the mobility business unit operates the premium version KakaoTaxi Black and chauffer service KakaoDriver.

By Park Ga-young (gypark@heraldcorp.com)

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