[Rumor] Disney Offered Chance to Buy Controlling Stake in Nexon

Published: April 20, 2019 7:05 PM /

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Last January, TechRaptor reported that the South Korean company Nexon would be putting itself up for sale. According to a South Korean outlet, Disney could be the one to acquire the company.

Korean newspaper The Central Times (translated via The Korean Herald) reported Disney could be in line to scoop up a controlling share of Nexon's stock. 98.64 percent of Nexon's stock is owned by Kim Jung-ju, who expressed his intent to sell the company last January. The outlet also reports that Jung-ju "personally approached a high-ranking Disney representative to discuss acquisition matters."

According to the article, Kim Jung-ju said:

What I envy the most about Disney is that they do not force money out of kids ... (consumers) gladly pay Disney.
The Korean Herald states Nexon's current stake on sale amounts to around $13.2 billion USD. Disney is no short of cash and, while this is a great deal of money, it would be well within the entertainment titan's ability to purchase the company.

Nexon is a video game company known for publishing games such as the MapleStory series, Tree of Savior, and Counter-Strike Online. They also published the now-defunct Lawbreakers from Cliff Bleszinski's studio, Boss Key Productions.

The sparse offerings from EA's Star Wars partnership, as well as the closure of LucasArts and Disney Infinity and subsequent withdrawal from the gaming industry,  has led to the company having a limited reach in gaming. However, because Nexon has a strong mobile presence, this could be something Disney would more than likely utilize in the future should the purported deal go through.


Quick Take

It would be really interesting to see Disney make a big return to the realm of gaming. Nexon has a good mobile presence and I think that Disney would benefit from using this developer, especially in Asia. Disney already has plenty of games from its properties on the mobile market, so Nexon could help them out there and expand it even more. Time will tell, but it'll definitely be something to watch in the coming days. Sooner or later, Nexon will be sold to someone. 

What do you think about this deal? Let us know in the comments below!

Have a tip, or want to point out something we missed? Leave a Comment or e-mail us at tips@techraptor.net


austin
| Staff Writer

Austin cut his teeth writing various  fan-fiction stories on the RuneScape forums when he was in elementary school. Later on, he developed a deep love for… More about Austin