April 16, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Korean internet giant Kakao is expected to spin off its mobility business unit and sell a sizeable stake to a consortium of TPG and ORIX later this month, The Bell reported on June 5.

The two private equity firms are reportedly doing due diligence for the stake purchase worth about 500 billion won (US$446 million) and cash abundant TPG is leading the talks. 

Related:
Kakao seeks W500b funding for KakaoTaxi


Last week, Kakao said in a regulatory filing that the company is seeking diverse ways to grow its online-to-offline service business but nothing has been decided on funding, including the stake sale.

Kakao’s mobility business is best known for taxi-hailing service KakaoTaxi. The company has launched related services such as the premium version KakaoTaxi Black and chauffer service KakaoDriver.

The report said other global private equity firms such as Japan’s SoftBank, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts of the US and Hong Kong-based Affinity Equity Partners had also showed interest in acquiring the stake.

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