Mr. Blue Invests 39.7 Billion KRW in Web Novel IP Company... "Quantum Jump through Securing K-Content"

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyungsoo Park] Online comic and webtoon company Mr. Blue is expanding its business area by investing in two web novel intellectual property (IP) companies. The strategy is to continuously maximize profitability by securing K-content IP.

Mr. Blue announced on the 8th that it will invest a total of 39.7 billion KRW in web novel companies Donga Media Co., Ltd. and Video Publishing Media Co., Ltd. It will invest 22.1 billion KRW in Donga Media through new shares, existing shares, and convertible bonds, and 17.6 billion KRW in Video Publishing Media through existing shares acquisition. After the investment, Mr. Blue's shareholding ratio will be 79.2% and 80%, respectively.

A company official stated, "As the status of K-content rises in the global market, we will accelerate the ‘One Source Multi Use (OSMU)’ strategy utilizing promising IP," and added, "We will create various forms of value chains with the existing webtoon business to maximize synergy effects."

Donga Media, established in 2015, supplies web novels to various platforms such as Kakao Page, Naver, and Ridibooks. It holds representative works including ‘Adonis (author Hyedori)’, read by over 1.5 million readers, and ‘Night Without Shadows (author Kim Miyu)’, which won the 2020 Ridibooks Romance Web Novel Award. Additionally, it has experience producing webtoons from various award-winning works such as Sugongnyeo, Manhattan Romance, and Bon Appetit.

Video Publishing Media, established in 2013, produces webtoons and web novels mainly in fantasy and martial arts genres and supplies them to Kakao, Naver Series, and others. It has recruited overseas authors such as Nagatsuki Tappei and Maruyama Kugane and exported works to overseas markets.

A company official said, "By entering the web novel business following webtoons and games, we have established an internal system optimized for the OSMU business utilizing original IP," and added, "We will create high added value by producing web novels into OTT dramas and target overseas markets."