SEOUL: South Korea's Kakao Entertainment said on Tuesday it was acquiring US-based online comic app Tapas and serialised fiction app Radish for US$510 million and US$440 million, respectively.
"Just 80 Kakao IPs are responsible for half of Tapas' sales ... Based on such growth data, we determined that Kakao Entertainment's growth formula in Korea or Japan was also possible in America and other English-speaking regions." Kakao also owns serialized fiction IPs, movie production companies, actors' talent agencies, K-pop artists' labels plus performance and content companies, making it"unique" in its ability to convert a single IP into many channels and forms, Radish CEO and founder Seungyoon Lee told Reuters."It can literally take a web fiction into a webtoon then turn it into a TV drama and movie.
Radish previously received Series A funding from investors including SoftBank Group Corp's venture arm and Kakao.