
SEOUL, KOREA - Daum Kakao, a merged entity between Kakao Inc. and Daum Communications, is set to be established on October 1.The integration between the strongest mobile player Kakao and the No. 2 portal Daum will likely to bring about a change in the landscape of Korea’s Internet market.
Daum Kakao’s market capitalization is estimated at up to 10 trillion won, including Daum’s market cap of 2.2 trillion won. This is the largest-ever merger in Korea’s IT industry.
Backed by KakaoTalk’s 37 million user base, Daum Kakao will enter into head-on competition with the No. 1 portal Naver.Daum Kakao will be led by its largest shareholder Kim Beom-Soo and two CEOs—Lee Seok-Woo (Kakao CEO) and Choi Sae-Hoon (Daum CEO).
It will consist of about ten teams with the size of each team varying based on the nature of their business.The merger between Daum and Kakao will be finalized with the new shares of Daum Kakao being listed on the KOSDAQ over-the-counter market on October 14.