Naver Pursues Acquisition of Web Novel Platform 'Munpia'

[Asia Economy Reporter Buaeri] Naver is pursuing the acquisition of the web novel platform 'Munpia.'

A Naver official stated on the 15th, "We are reviewing the acquisition of Munpia, but nothing has been finalized." It is also known that Kakao has explored the acquisition. A Kakao representative said, "We cannot confirm this."

Munpia is a leading domestic web novel platform established in 2002. It started as an internet community and transitioned to a corporation in 2012. The number of registered authors reaches 47,000. The company's value is estimated at 300 billion KRW.

Naver and Kakao are actively competing to acquire webtoon and web novel platforms. After Naver acquired the world's largest web novel platform 'Wattpad' earlier this year, Kakao responded by acquiring the North American web novel platform Radish and the webtoon platform Tapas.

The competitive acquisitions by Naver and Kakao aim to secure intellectual property (IP) rights for webtoons and web novels. Securing webtoon and web novel IP allows for unlimited business expansion into dramas, movies, and more.

However, NCSoft and Tencent are variables in the acquisition battle. Tencent's investment subsidiary CLL and NCSoft hold 24% and 6% of Munpia's shares, respectively. If they exercise their preemptive rights, management control will transfer to them. However, an NCSoft official stated, "Nothing has been finalized at this time."