OTT 'KT Season' Independence... Koo Hyun-mo's Determination Toward 'Digico' [Cha Min-young's Post IT]

KT Group Genie Music, Public Notice on 14th
Major Shareholder Changed from KT to KT Season
Control Tower Centered on Studio Genie
Preliminary Stage of Media and Content Vertical Integration

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] #. KT Group is establishing KT Seezn, a specialized corporation for online video service (OTT). This spin-off is interpreted as a preliminary step for vertical integration of related corporations centered on Studio Genie, the control tower of the media and content division.

Genie Music announced after the market closed on the 14th that KT, its largest shareholder, signed a capital contribution contract in kind to establish KT Seezn. Among the capital contributions in kind, Genie Music shares amount to approximately 20.9 million common shares, with a total transfer price of 158.3 billion KRW. Accordingly, the largest shareholder of Genie Music will change from KT to the newly established KT Seezn. KT Seezn will be a 100% subsidiary of KT, and Genie Music will maintain its position as an affiliated company within the corporate group.

What is noteworthy here is that the Seezn service division has been spun off as an independent corporation named KT Seezn. The headquarters is planned to be located in Cheongjin-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul. Although the establishment date of the new company has not been disclosed, it is expected that the establishment procedures will be completed before the scheduled change of Genie Music’s largest shareholder on the 18th of next month.

Like domestic OTT companies, Seezn is currently in a state prior to turning a profit, so the burden from the spin-off was expected to be significant. However, this is interpreted as reflecting the group’s strong will. KT CEO Koo Hyun-mo stated at a media briefing before the launch of Studio Genie in March, "Seezn is highly likely to be spun off internally."

Within KT Group, it is expected that Studio Genie will take on the role of an intermediate holding company, with related independent corporations such as KT Seezn, Nasmedia, KTH, Genie Music, and Storywiz positioned below it in a restructured governance system. Since his inauguration in March last year, CEO Koo Hyun-mo has consistently promoted the 'Digital Platform Company (Digico)' strategy and pursued a 탈(脫)telecom strategy.

A KT official explained, "The establishment of the new KT Seezn corporation is being pursued to restructure the group in the media content sector, which started earlier this year, and to create mobile media business opportunities."