Kakao Entertainment Corp. (), stylized as kakao ENTERTAINMENT, is a South Korean entertainment, mass media, and publishing company founded in 2021. A subsidiary of the internet company Kakao, it was established subsequent to the merger of the latter's two subsidiaries KakaoPage and Kakao M.
History
KakaoPage Corp.
Podotree Co, Ltd. was founded on July 20, 2010, as a subsidiary of Kakao, and launched KakaoPage three years later. On August 1, 2018, the company changed its corporate name to KakaoPage Corp.
Kakao M
Seoul Records, Inc. was founded in October 1978 by , the owner of local educational company (formerly Sisa English). In 2005, the company was acquired by SK Telecom and relaunched as LOEN Entertainment, Inc. three years later, before being sold to Star Invest Holdings (a subsidiary of Affinity Equity Partners).
In January 2016, it was taken over by Kakao and renamed again as Kakao M Corp. in December 2017.
In October 2020, the company expanded in Asia by launching a Thailand-based subsidiary called Kakao M Asia (Private) Co., Ltd. (currently Kakao Entertainment Asia Co., Ltd.).
Merger as Kakao Entertainment (2021–present)
In December 2020, KakaoPage Corp. proposed a merger with Kakao M Corp. as a unified company. It was seen as an action by their parent company against US-based Google’s new policy for its app market place users, which would've affected Kakao M, which KakaoTV platform was starting to become popular in South Korea.
Both companies announced the plans and timeline for their merger, as well as the proposed name for the unified company Kakao Entertainment Corp on January 25, 2021. Under the plans, KakaoPage Corp. is the surviving entity.
The merger was completed on March 1, and Kakao Entertainment was formally founded a day later.
On July 15, it was announced that Kakao Entertainment and Melon Company would be merging, with the merger expected to be complete in September 2021.
On September 17, Kakao Entertainment announced that Play M Entertainment and Cre.ker Entertainment would be merging in the future. On November 12, it was announced that the company's new corporate name would be IST Entertainment, which took effect on November 1.
Divisions
Page Company
Headed by co-CEO Joy Lee, the Kakao Entertainment's Page Company is in charge of the company's web fiction publishing and web development business. It is situated in Pangyo, Seongnam in Gyeonggi Province.
M Company
Headed by co-CEO - one of South Korea's most renowned entertainment executives - the Kakao Entertainment's M Company is in charge of the company's entertainment and mass media business. Its headquarters is in Teheran-ro, Gangnam-gu in Seoul.
Subsidiaries
Under the Page Company
AdPage
Daon Creative
KW Books
Kiwi Vine
RS Media
Radish Media
Samyang C&C
Soundist Entertainment
Tapas Media
Yeondam
Under the M Company
Antenna Music
Awesome ENT
Baram Pictures
BH Entertainment
Bluedot Entertainment
Dolphiners Films (subject to Korean government approval) EDAM Entertainment Flex M GRAYGO Maison de Baja High Up Entertainment IST Entertainment J.Wide Company Kakao Entertainment Asia Path Mobile (Indonesia) Studio Orange (Thailand) Studio Phoenix (Thailand, unrelated to the JTBC Studios subsidiary) Kross Pictures Logos Film Management SOOP Mega Monster Moonlight Film Ready Entertainment Sanai Pictures Starship Entertainment Starship X Highline Entertainment King Kong by Starship Shownote Story & Pictures Media Studio K11O (subject to Korean government approval) VAST Entertainment & Media Zip Cinema
Assets
Buildings
Jungsuck Building (Seoul) - headquarters of the Kakao Entertainment M Company
The Kakao Entertainment M Company also owns a building at Samseong-dong in Seoul, where the headquarters of IST Entertainment and Flex M are located.
Internet properties
1theK
1theK Originals
1theK Style (coming soon) KakaoPage KakaoPage Indonesia (formerly Neobazar) (Indonesia) KakaoTV Kakao Webtoon Kakao Webtoon (South Korea) (formerly Daum Webtoon) Kakao Webtoon (Indonesia, coming soon) Kakao Webtoon (Taiwan) Kakao Webtoon (Thailand) Melon Muse (mobile audition application) Radish (US) Wuxiaworld (US, acquisition subject to government approval) Tapas (US)
Locations
Kakao Entertainment Page Company: Twosun World Building 8/F, 221, Pangyoyeok-ro, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea Kakao Entertainment M Company: Jungsuck Building, 17, Teheran-ro 103-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea