Two sovereign investment funds, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Singapore’s GIC, have invested $964 million in Tapas parent Kakao Entertainment, according to Korea Economic Daily. The company had initially planned an IPO for late 2022, but postponed due to market conditions and opted to seek other investments in the interim to fund continued growth.
Webtoon platform Tapas is now part of Kakao Entertainment subsidiary Radish, which in addition to Tapas and serial fiction platform Radish includes Asian fiction platform Wuxiaworld (see “Tapas Merges with Prose Platform“).
Tapas’ revenue grew tenfold in 2021, but it has had some ups and downs, with a hiring binge followed by layoffs and a change in direction (see “Tapas CEO on Layoffs”). Founder and CEO Chang Kim left the company on January 10 (see “Tapas Media Founder and CEO Chang Kim Moves On”).
The Saudi fund is making increasing investments in pop culture businesses. In 2022 Savvy Gaming Group, an arm of Saudi Arabia’s PIF, invested $1.01 billion in Embracer, the parent company of tabletop game giant Asmodee and comics publisher Dark Horse, a move that led to criticism because the Saudi government is believed to have ordered the murder and dismemberment of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 (see “Asmodee, Dark Horse Parent Defends Saudi Investment”).
Source: ICv2
