Kakao Games Europe acquires 30.37% of Lionheart Studio 30.37% stake for KRW 1.2tn
Not yet reviewed: summarised from filings and press reports; figures may differ between reports. Please check the original sources.
- Deal value
- $830m
- Stake
- 30.37%
- Implied 100%
- $2.7bn
- Revenue
- $160m
- Op. income
- $149m
- Multiples
- EQV/EBIT 18.4xPSR 17.0x
Deal value ÷ stake (structure unconfirmed)
2021 · Multiple reports agree
2021 · Multiple reports agree
On implied equity value
- Target
- Lionheart Studio 30.37% stake · Mobile game development
- Buyer
- Kakao Games Europe · SI
- Seller
- Wemade and other shareholders
- Structure
- —
- Announced
- Jun 30, 2022
- Closed
- —
- Stage
- Closed
Target
Developer of the mobile/PC MMORPG 'Odin: Valhalla Rising' (launched June 2021). Reports put 2021 revenue at about KRW 232.6bn and operating profit at about KRW 215.3bn.
Deal rationale
Kakao Games said in its November 2021 filing that the ~30.37% purchase via its European unit aimed to expand global business competitiveness; CEO Cho Kye-hyun said he was pleased to grow with Lionheart's strong development talent (Dailian). Kakao Games secured global publishing rights for Odin outside China. The final price was set on Lionheart's and Odin's one-year performance and was fixed at KRW 1,204.07bn on 30 June 2022 (ZDNet).
| Revenue | $160m |
| Operating income | $149m |
| EBITDA | — |
| Net income | $104m |
2021 · Multiple reports agree (not yet checked against DART)
Press coverage
- 지디넷코리아 (2022-06-30): “주식 22만5260주(30.37%)를 1조2천40억7,304만원에 취득하기로 했다고 정정공시했다.”
- 한국벤처캐피탈협회 M&A 뉴스레터 (2022-08): “카카오게임즈, 라이온하트 약 1조2천억에 인수 확정”
- 데일리안 (2021-11-01): “우수한 개발력과 인재를 갖춘 라이온하트 스튜디오와 시작과 성장을 함께 할 수 있어 매우 기쁘다”
This is a data entry summarising filings and press reports. Please check the original sources for the figures.