Netmarble, the fastest-growing mobile game company worldwide, announced today that it will acquire 25.71% of Big Hit Entertainment, label of the phenomenal K-pop group, BTS.
Upon completion, Netmarble will secure a 25.71% stake in Big Hit Entertainment for approx. 190M USD (KRW 201.4B) and will become the second largest shareholder. This acquisition was made to expand business synergies between the two companies, which are gaining influence in the game and music markets worldwide.
At Netmarble’s annual press conference in February, Chairman Bang Jun-hyuk has announced its plan to launch BTS World, a cinematic mobile game that allows players to manage and train BTS. The game will feature images, videos and tracks recorded by the idol group and pioneer a new genre of games created in collaboration with Korean pop culture and entertainment.
Netmarble said “Big Hit Entertainment is a fast-growing entertainment company and is collaborating with Netmarble in the game business. We expect this investment to expand synergies between Netmarble and Big Hit Entertainment.”
Big Hit Entertainment said “We are delighted that a globally successful game company like Netmarble is becoming one of the major shareholders of Big Hit Entertainment. We are confident that we will receive many supports from Netmarble who have both the financial and strategic business capabilities, based on which we will become a more stable company.
