Kakao Entertainment Corp. (), stylized as kakao ENTERTAINMENT, is a South Korean entertainment, mass media, and publishing company founded in 2021. A subsidiary of the internet company

Kakao Kakao ( ko, 카카오) is a South Korean internet company that was established in 2010. It formed as a result of a merger between Daum (web portal), Daum Communications and the original Kakao Inc. In 2014, the company was renamed Daum Kakao. Th ...

, it was established subsequent to the merger of the latter's two subsidiaries

KakaoPage KakaoPage () is a monetized content platform optimized for mobile devices, launched by the Kakao Corp. in 2013 and currently owned by its subsidiary Kakao Entertainment. The service launched on April 9, 2013 as a digital content marketplace allow ...

and

Kakao M Kakao M (; formerly Seoul Records, YBM Seoul Records and LOEN Entertainment) was a South Korean entertainment company established by Min Yeong-bin in 1978. It is currently one of the largest co-publisher companies in South Korea. The company op ...

History

KakaoPage Corp.

Podotree Co, Ltd. was founded on July 20, 2010, as a subsidiary of Kakao, and launched KakaoPage three years later. On August 1, 2018, the company changed its corporate name to KakaoPage Corp.

Kakao M

Seoul Records, Inc. was founded in October 1978 by , the owner of local educational company (formerly Sisa English). In 2005, the company was acquired by

SK Telecom SK Telecom Co., Ltd. ( or ) is a South Korean wireless telecommunications operator and former film distributor and is part of the SK Group, one of the country's largest chaebols. It leads the local market with 50.5 percent share as of 2008. S ...

and relaunched as LOEN Entertainment, Inc. three years later, before being sold to Star Invest Holdings (a subsidiary of

Affinity Equity Partners Affinity Equity Partners is one of the largest dedicated Asian private equity firms and focuses on leveraged buyout and growth capital transactions. Affinity operates as a Pan-Asian firm focusing on investment opportunities in Korea, Southeast A ...

). In January 2016, it was taken over by Kakao and renamed again as Kakao M Corp. in December 2017. In October 2020, the company expanded in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

by launching a Thailand-based subsidiary called Kakao M Asia (Private) Co., Ltd. (currently Kakao Entertainment Asia Co., Ltd.).

Merger as Kakao Entertainment (2021–present)

In December 2020, KakaoPage Corp. proposed a merger with Kakao M Corp. as a unified company. It was seen as an action by their parent company against US-based

Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...

’s new policy for its app market place users, which would've affected Kakao M, which KakaoTV platform was starting to become popular in South Korea. Both companies announced the plans and timeline for their merger, as well as the proposed name for the unified company Kakao Entertainment Corp on January 25, 2021. Under the plans, KakaoPage Corp. is the surviving entity. The merger was completed on March 1, 2021, and Kakao Entertainment was formally founded a day later. On July 15, it was announced that Kakao Entertainment and Melon Company would be merging, with the merger expected to be complete in September 2021. On September 17, Kakao Entertainment announced that

Play M Entertainment IST Entertainment (Hangul: 아이에스티엔터테인먼트) is a South Korean entertainment company under Kakao Entertainment. History Plan A Entertainment In 2011, A Cube Entertainment was established as an independent label of Cube Entertain ...

and Cre.ker Entertainment would be merging in the future. On November 12, 2021, it was announced that the company's new corporate name would be

IST Entertainment IST Entertainment (Hangul: 아이에스티엔터테인먼트) is a South Korean entertainment company under Kakao Entertainment. History Plan A Entertainment In 2011, A Cube Entertainment was established as an independent label of Cube Entertain ...

, which took effect on November 1.

Divisions

Page Company

Headed by co-CEO Joy Lee, the Kakao Entertainment ''Page Company'' is in charge of the company's web fiction publishing and web development business. It is situated in Pangyo,

Seongnam Seongnam () is the fourth largest city in South Korea's Gyeonggi Province after Suwon and the 10th largest city in the country. Its population is approximately one million. Seongnam is a satellite city of Seoul. It is largely a residential cit ...

Gyeonggi Province Gyeonggi-do (, ) is the most populous province in South Korea. Its name, ''Gyeonggi'', means "京 (the capital) and 畿 (the surrounding area)". Thus, ''Gyeonggi-do'' can be translated as "Seoul and the surrounding areas of Seoul". Seoul, the na ...

M Company

Headed by co-CEO - one of South Korea's most renowned entertainment executives - the Kakao Entertainment ''M Company'' is in charge of the company's entertainment and mass media business. Its headquarters is in

Teheran-ro Teheran-ro (translation "Tehran Boulevard") is a street in the Gangnam district of Seoul, South Korea. It runs from Gangnam Station through Yeoksam-dong and into Samseong-dong. It is colloquially known as "Teheran Valley" (after Silicon Valley ...

Gangnam-gu Gangnam District ( ; , ) is one of the 25 local government districts which make up the city of Seoul, South Korea. Gangnam translates to "South of the (Han) River". Gangnam District is the third largest district in Seoul, with an area of . A ...

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

Subsidiaries

Under the Page Company

*AdPage *Daon Creative *KW Books *Kiwi Media Company *

RS Media The RS Media is another product in WowWee's line of biomorphic robots, based on a walking system designed by Mark Tilden. The RS Media uses basically the same body as the Robosapien V2, but a different brain based on a Linux kernel. As the name ...

*Radish Media *Samyang C&C *Soundist Entertainment * Tapas Media *Yeondam

Under the M Company

Antenna Music Antenna (Hangul: 안테나) is a South Korean record label founded by You Hee-yeol of the band Toy in 1997. Formerly an independent label, it was fully incorporated as a subsidiary under Kakao Entertainment in August 2021. History South Kore ...

*Awesome ENT *Baram Pictures *BH Entertainment *Bluedot Entertainment *Dolphiners Films (subject to Korean government approval) *EDAM Entertainment *Flex M *GRAYGO **Maison de Baja *High Up Entertainment *

*J.Wide Company *Kakao Entertainment Asia ** Path Mobile (

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

) **Studio Orange (

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

) **Studio Phoenix (Thailand, unrelated to the

JTBC Studios SLL (; acronym for Studio LuluLala), formerly known as JTBC Studios (), is a South Korean drama production, distribution and talent management company. It is a subsidiary of JTBC. In 2022, JTBC Studios was rebranded as SLL as part of worldwide ...

subsidiary) *

Kross Pictures Kross Pictures, Inc. is a South Korean multinational film and television production company with offices in Seoul, Los Angeles, and Mumbai. The company was co-founded and is currently run by Hyunwoo Thomas Kim. Key business areas of Kross Pictu ...

Logos Film Logos Film Co., Ltd. () is a Korean drama production company A production company, production house, production studio, or a production team is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television, radi ...

Management SOOP Management SOOP Corporation () t/a Management SOOP () is a South Korean actors agency that was established in 2011, and is currently operating as a subsidiary of Kakao Entertainment (a Kakao company). The roster includes actors Jeon Do-yeon, Gong ...

Mega Monster Mega Monster () is a South Korean TV series production company and a subsidiary of Kakao Entertainment. The company was founded in 2014 as Story Plant by Kim Yang (television producer), Kim Yang and , and was a subsidiary of CJ E&M (known now a ...

*Moonlight Film * Ready Entertainment *Sanai Pictures *

Starship Entertainment Starship Entertainment () is a South Korean entertainment company founded in 2008 and became an independent subsidiary of Kakao Entertainment in 2013. They had been recognized for their contributions to the Hallyu Wave, being home to several ...

** Starship X **

Highline Entertainment Highline Entertainment () is a South Korean entertainment company founded in 2017 and a subsidiary of Starship Entertainment. History In 2017, Starship Entertainment launched another subsidiary label House of Music, which focused on recruiting ...

King Kong by Starship King Kong by Starship (), formerly known as King Kong Entertainment () before the merge in 2017, is a South Korean actors agency that was founded in 2009. History It was founded in 2009 by Lee Jin-sung, then an employee of IHQ Inc., and having ...

** Shownote * Story & Pictures Media *Studio K11O (subject to Korean government approval) * VAST Entertainment & Media * Zip Cinema

Assets

Buildings

* Jungsuck Building (Seoul) - headquarters of the Kakao Entertainment M Company * The Kakao Entertainment M Company also owns a building at Samseong-dong in Seoul, where the headquarters of IST Entertainment and Flex M are located.

Internet properties

* 1theK ** 1theK Originals ** 1theK Style (coming soon) *

** KakaoPage Indonesia (formerly Neobazar) (

) * KakaoTV *

Kakao Webtoon Kakao Webtoon (Hangul: 카카오 웹툰) is a webtoon platform operated by Kakao. History The service originally launched in 2003 by Daum, a popular web portal in Korea, as Daum Webtoon making it the first official webtoon platform in the worl ...

** Kakao Webtoon (South Korea) (formerly Daum Webtoon) ** Kakao Webtoon (

, coming soon) ** Kakao Webtoon (

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

) ** Kakao Webtoon (

) *

Melon A melon is any of various plants of the family Cucurbitaceae with sweet, edible, and fleshy fruit. The word "melon" can refer to either the plant or specifically to the fruit. Botanically, a melon is a kind of berry, specifically a "pepo". The ...

* Muse (mobile audition application) * Radish ( US) ** Wuxiaworld ( US, acquisition subject to government approval) *

Tapas A tapa () is an appetizer or snack in Spanish cuisine. Tapas can be combined to make a full meal, and can be cold (such as mixed olives and cheese) or hot (such as ''chopitos'', which are battered, fried baby squid, or patatas bravas). In some ...

(US)

Locations

* Kakao Entertainment Page Company: Twosun World Building 8/F, 221, Pangyoyeok-ro,

Bundang-gu Bundang-gu is the largest and most populous district ('' gu'') of Seongnam, a major city in the Seoul Capital Area, South Korea. Bundang-gu is one of South Korea's wealthiest and highest developed areas, being the nation's first and largest comple ...

Seongnam-si Seongnam () is the fourth largest city in South Korea's Gyeonggi Province after Suwon and the 10th largest city in the country. Its population is approximately one million. Seongnam is a satellite city of Seoul. It is largely a residential city ...

Gyeonggi-do Gyeonggi-do (, ) is the most populous province in South Korea. Its name, ''Gyeonggi'', means "京 (the capital) and 畿 (the surrounding area)". Thus, ''Gyeonggi-do'' can be translated as "Seoul and the surrounding areas of Seoul". Seoul, the na ...

, South Korea * Kakao Entertainment M Company: Jungsuck Building, 17,

103-gil,

, South Korea

Notes

References

External links

* * * * {{Authority control Mass media companies established in 2021 Entertainment companies of South Korea Mass media companies of South Korea Publishing companies of South Korea

Entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have developed over thousa ...

South Korean companies established in 2021 Companies based in Gyeonggi Province Companies based in Seoul South Korean record labels Record label distributors