Nexon declared that it would take part in the management of NCsoft based on its stake in the latter company. NCsoft, however, opposed to the move, forewarning a dispute ahead. On January 27, Nexon, Korea's largest online game publisher, said in a regulatory filing that the principal purpose of holding a 15.08-percent stake (3,306,897 shares) in NCsoft has changed to "management control" from "simple financial investment."
A Nexon official said, "For the past two-and-a-half years we have tried a variety of partnerships with NCsoft including joint development projects, but we felt these attempts fell short of responding to the fast-changing IT business environment. We finally decided to officially change the purpose of stakeholding in order to create a more meaningful partnership."
"Under the difficult global game market circumstances, we try to play an active role as the majority investor so as not to fall behind in the competition. To that end, Nexon wants to work with NCsoft with all possibilities open," he added.
Currently the largest shareholder of NCsoft is Nexon, with CEO NCsoft Kim Taek-jin and the National Pension Service holding a 9.9-percent and 7.8-percent stake respectively.
Although a Nexon official claimed the decision was made after a prior agreement with NCsoft, an NCsoft executive countered, "It was a one-way notice. The change of shareholding purpose by Nexon was breach of the prior commitment. It will lead to weakening of NCsoft's competitiveness in the market and a drop in shareholder value."
Source: The Korea Economic Daily
