One of the largest MMO companies in the world is up for sale. But who is going to pay almost 9 billion US dollars for Nexon (Vindictus, MapleStory 2)? The list of potential buyers is short: Electronic Arts and Activision are on it. In addition, Tencent and Disney.
This was the rumor: We already reported in early January 2019 that Nexon was allegedly up for sale. This is one of the largest MMO companies in the world and a huge video game giant in South Korea and other Asian countries.
In 2012 there was a rumor that Nexon would swallow Electronic Arts – now the signs have reversed.
The founder of Nexon, Kim Jung-ju, is said to be tired of many new regulations and exhausted by corruption allegations against him. He wants to sell his massive shares, it was said two weeks ago.
At that time, Nexon did not want to comment directly, but it now seems to be official. The MMO giant is indeed up for sale. This is reported by a Korean news site.
And the news has, according to TechSpot, already had an impact on the stock market. The stocks of some of Nexon’s subsidiaries have already jumped high. Large investment funds are preparing. They are allegedly considering buying individual parts of the company and taking it off the stock market.
And a number of buyers are also said to be interested.
This is what the shares are about: It is said to be about 98.64% of the shares in Nexon and the various subsidiaries. These shares are held by:
- Kim himself, the head of the company – 61.94%
- his wife – 29.43%
- Kim’s private company Wise Kids – 1.72%
- and other relatives of Kim
These shares are said to be worth between 7.1 and 8.9 billion US dollars in total.
These are the potential buyers: Currently, four companies are mentioned as potential candidates for the purchase of Nexon:
- Tencent – the Chinese gaming giant
- Activision – a Western publisher with Call of Duty and World of Warcraft
- Electronic Arts – a Western publisher with titles like Battlefield and FIFA backing them
- And Disney – the company with the mouse
When is this supposed to take place? Allegedly, the sale is supposed to take place in Hong Kong and San Francisco on July 17, 2019.
The New York branch of Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley are allegedly supposed to handle the purchase. Tencent is being advised by Goldman Sachs. American investors are trying to collaborate with Western bidders to raise the enormous sums of money involved.
One can be curious about what will happen next and whether the potential buyers will comment on the deal or if it all remains under wraps. So far, the most heard response is: “No comment.”
In Korea, gaming develops differently than it does with us:
