이 기사는 2021년 08월 31일 08:01 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.

South Korea’s biggest search engine Naver will participate in its research arm Naver Labs’ rights offering.

Naver’s board of directors said last week that it will invest 70 billion won ($60 million) in Naver Labs in the third quarter. Naver will acquire 140,000 new shares issued by Naver Labs at 500,000 per share. After the latest investment, Naver’s investment in Naver Labs will amount to 260 billion won.

Founded in 2013 as Naver’s research center, Naver Labs was spun off as a separate entity in 2017 to focus its research on ambient intelligence in areas such as autonomous driving, robotics, artificial intelligence and geospatial data. Distinguished researchers from Korea and Europe are committed to understanding the places people carry out their lives to connect these locations and shape the future of mobility.

Naver injected 40 billion won in Naver Labs when the company was spun off in 2017 and pledged to invest total 120 billion won in the company. The tech giant injected the promised amount through the two rounds of rights offering, which took place in December 2017 and July 2018. Naver has decided to make another investment two years after its last investment worth 70 billion won in June 2019.

As Naver Labs is a research organization, deficit has accumulated due to continued losses after the spin-off. Its revenue ranges from one billion won to eight billion won, while it recorded an operating loss of 33.5 billion won in 2017, 43.8 billion won in 2018, 37.5 billion won in 2019, and 40.4 billion won in 2020. Its cumulative losses amount to 155.2 billion won.

The company’s deficit was 153.9 billion won in 2020, with capital of 19 billion won and capital surplus of 188.1 billion won. Despite continued losses, Naver Labs’ total equity is still in the positive territory thanks to Naver’s 190 billion won investment in the company until 2020.

Naver Labs’ financial status is unlikely to be weakened as Naver is set to inject another 70 billion won this year. Naver has purchased shares of Naver Labs at 500,000 won per share, significantly higher than a per-share price of 5,000 won. The remaining 495,000 won per share is accumulated as capital surplus. Naver Labs’ capital surplus will increase to 250 billion won even if its deficit increases more than that of last year. (Reporting by Seul-ki Kim)