S.Korea’s Kakao Entertainment secures $966-M investment from sovereign wealth funds

SEOUL -South Korean tech conglomerate Kakao Corp said on Thursday unit Kakao Entertainment secured a 1.2 trillion won ($966.27 million) investment from leading sovereign wealth funds.

Singapore’s GIC and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) decided to each invest 600 billion won in the entertainment firm, local newspaper Korea Economic Daily reported on Thursday, citing unnamed investment banking sources.

Kakao, however, did not name the sovereign wealth funds in its statement. GIC and PIF did not immediately comment.

“It’s significant that we were able to secure funds of this scale at a time when both the Korean and global markets face a lot of uncertainty and investment sentiment is weak,” Kakao Chief Investment Officer Bae Jae-hyun said.

Unlisted Kakao Entertainment has a business portfolio ranging from K-Pop to shows, movies, and content such as online comics called webtoons and serial web novels.