이 기사는 2021년 11월 19일 08시02분 thebell에 표출된 기사입니다

Kakao Corp has spent more than 1.05 trillion won ($889.7 million) on mergers and acquisitions through its subsidiaries this year as the South Korean platform giant continues its aggressive expansion despite criticism from lawmakers.

Kakao had 141 subsidiaries at the end of September this year, according to a quarterly report released on Monday. The figure was up by 26 compared to the end of 2020, with 37 subsidiaries newly added and 11 taken out from the list during this period.

Kakao has grown rapidly since its 2014 merger with internet company Daum, mainly through mergers and acquisitions of companies with technology. The number of its subsidiaries has continued to increase in the past six years, from 26 at the end of 2014 to 115 at the end of 2020.

Kakao spent over 1.05 trillion won on acquiring stakes in 24 companies in the first three quarters of 2021, with more than 97% of the amount, or about 1.02 trillion won, recorded as goodwill on its balance sheet.

In accounting, goodwill is an intangible asset that arises when a company buys another company at a price greater than the fair value of the net identifiable assets acquired. Goodwill represents intangible benefits from acquisitions, such as branding, human capital and control premium.

Kakao Entertainment, Kakao’s entertainment arm, in particular has been active in dealmaking as it continues efforts to increase its value ahead of a planned initial public offering next year. Its spending on acquisitions has totaled roughly 920 billion won so far this year.

Kakao Entertainment’s notable deals this year include the 473 billion won acquisition of US online comic app Tapas and the 378.9 billion won purchase of US serialized fiction app Radish. With the completion of the deals, the company owns 100% and 99% stakes in the apps, respectively.

Kakao Entertainment especially put a high valuation on Tapas’s intangible assets, given a negative value of 4.6 billion won for the US firm’s net identifiable assets and 477.7 billion won of goodwill. Tapas, founded in 2012, had more than three million monthly active users and over 80,000 titles as of the end of 2020.

For the Radish acquisition, goodwill accounted for 372.8 billion won of the total price. Kakao Entertainment intends to use the two apps as a springboard to expand its presence in the North American market.

Other companies Kakao Entertainment acquired this year include streaming software company INISoft for 26 billion won, YouTube production company 3Ycorp for 18 billion won and music entertainment company Antenna for 13.9 billion won.

Kakao Mobility, which also targets to go public in 2022, spent 65.2 billion won on acquisitions in the first three quarters of this year. The mobility arm of Kakao acquired the country’s largest telephone designated-driver service Korea Drive, online car rental platform Dealcar, HD map startup Stryx and others.

Kakao Games’ spending on acquisitions has totaled 66.3 billion won so far this year, with notable deals including advertising technology startup AD(x) and blockchain technology company Way2Bit. (Reporting by Seul-gi Kim)