[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] Kakao Entertainment is accelerating its global market expansion by merging Tapas Media and Radish Media. Through the strategic merger of the North American webtoon platform and web novel platform, Kakao Entertainment aims to become the number one operator in North America.
On the 19th, Kakao Entertainment announced that Tapas and Radish each held board meetings and finalized the merger of the two companies. The surviving company Radish will absorb Tapas Media, with a merger ratio set at 1:18 for Radish and Tapas respectively. Targeting August 1 as the merger date, Tapas and Radish plan to proceed with detailed merger procedures, including deciding on the new merged corporation’s name. The CEO of the new merged corporation will be Kim Chang-won, who successfully established Tapas as a webtoon platform in North America.
This merger is a decision to combine the story intellectual property (IP) capabilities that Tapas and Radish have built in North America to create synergy and maximize Kakao Entertainment’s global growth momentum. The new merged corporation will encompass three platforms: Tapas, Radish, and Usia World, which Radish acquired last year. Although the three services will continue to operate independently after the merger, the goal is to generate synergy based on the leadership of the merged corporation.
"A Major Turning Point to Lead the Leap of K-Story Business"
Lee Jin-su, CEO of Kakao Entertainment, evaluated, “The merger of Tapas and Radish will be a turning point that leads the evolution of the North American storytelling industry beyond a simple combination of platforms.”
He added, “The unique IP capabilities of Tapas, Radish, and Usia World, which formed Kakao Entertainment’s North American ‘triangular squadron,’ combined with Kakao Entertainment’s Korean IP that has proven strong power globally, will build a powerful ‘IP pipeline’ to continuously create successful IP cases.”
He also stated, “We expect this merger to be a momentum that accelerates growth in the North American business, and through this, we will intensify efforts to realize the goal of ‘tripling global transaction volume within three years and achieving 500 billion KRW in North American transaction volume.’”
Tapas started as North America’s first webtoon platform in 2012 and has grown into a representative webtoon platform in North America over ten years. Radish has also continued its growth centered on strong original web novel IPs.
Infinite IP Expansion through Audiobooks, Metaverse, and NFTs
Kakao Entertainment plans to expand original story IPs such as web novels and webtoons into video, games, and metaverse content, achieving organic integration between content and various content types.
With this merger, Kakao Entertainment is ready to operate the ‘Novel Comics System’ more aggressively in the North American market. Novel Comics, which adapts popular web novels like “Solo Leveling,” “Temppal,” and “Business Proposal” into webtoons, is a system that extends the lifespan of works and maximizes creators’ earnings.
The merged corporation’s IPs will also be expanded into video, games, animation, and more by meeting the North American industry. Kakao Entertainment has begun preparations to discover strong hit IP cases in North America, such as a second “Itaewon Class,” “Business Proposal,” and “The Uncanny Counter.” Personnel from global content companies such as Disney, DC Comics, and Warner Bros. will focus on the video production process, and partnerships with the largest U.S. agency CAA will activate the video production foundation.
Additionally, Radish plans to release audiobooks of major works starting mid-year, targeting the rapidly growing audio content market in North America.
Stepping Up as a North American Content Leader
Kakao Entertainment expects to become a company with the highest level of ‘IP spectrum’ in North America through this merger. The number of creators established locally by Tapas and Radish reaches 100,000. These large-scale local creators will produce numerous outstanding IPs regardless of webtoon or web novel categories. Kakao Entertainment plans to aggressively supply premium IPs, which account for 60-70% of Tapas’ revenue, to Tapas, Radish, and Usia World, driving even steeper revenue growth.
Broad genre expansion is also expected to be a strength of the merged corporation. Original IPs across all genres such as drama, romance, fantasy, thriller, and horror supplied through the three platforms Tapas, Radish, and Usia World have built a solid readership base in North America, and the company expects to attract diverse generations beyond the 20s and 30s.
A Kakao Entertainment official explained, “We expect synergistic effects in operations through this merger, and the know-how and long-term vision of the professional personnel leading the three services will combine to enable more aggressive and effective promotion, IP planning, and development.”
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
