Netmarble setting aside $4.4 billion for acquisitions
Kabam Vancouver was just the beginning as Korean publisher ramps up post-IPO consolidation aspirations
Netmarble's IPO is set for next month, and the Korean mobile publisher is already planning to use the proceeds on a shopping spree. As reported by Reuters today, the company behind Lineage II: Revolution and Marvel Future Fight is looking to use money raised through the IPO along with loans and its own cash flow to raise 5 trillion won ($4.4 billion) for acquisitions.
As for what sort of acquisitions it will target, executives said Netmarble has its eye on game developers and IP holders. The IPO, which could bring in as much as 2.7 trillion won ($2.4 billion), will allow the company to pursue larger acquisitions than it had been searching for previously.
Netmarble's most recent major acquisition came in December, when the company announced it was purchasing Kabam's Vancouver studio--creator of the hit mobile fighting game Marvel: Contest of Champions--for $710 million. The company has said it wants to be a top-five global gaming company by 2020.