The South Korean gaming giant Nexon, which has developed MapleStory and War Rock among others, is about to be sold. Kim Jing-Ju, the company’s founder and majority shareholder, is responsible for this decision and owns 98.64 percent of the holding company NXC Corp., which in turn controls Nexon. According to several media reports, the most likely buyer is the Chinese company Tencent, which with QQQ.com offers the most visited portal and the most frequently used messenger in the Middle Kingdom. The chat and payment app WeChat also belongs to Tencent.
The selling price of the 98.64 percent is said to be about 8 billion dollars. In June 2016, Tencent already acquired 84.3 percent of the shares in the Finnish game developer Supercell for 8.6 billion dollars. Tencent has also already acquired the distribution license for the game Dungeon & Fighter in China. Nexon’s already very successful portfolio could further strengthen Tencent’s position as a giant in the Chinese market and thus generate high revenues for the Group. However, the licensing of new games, which must first be approved by the government, is considered problematic in China.
In addition to Tencent, Electronic Arts, Disney and Activision are also said to be interested in the takeover. The sale is not to be completed until October 2019.
