Naver invests $83 mil. in EXO's IPs
A promotional photo of K-pop group EXO is seen in this photo, Monday. Korea Times file
By Kim Yoo-chul
Naver, the country's dominant web portal, said Monday it has decided to invest 100 billion won (some $83 million) in K-pop management company SM Entertainment in an apparent effort to use intellectual property (IP) owned by the entertainment firm.
“Because Naver wants to improve the competitiveness of our global community membership platform Fanship and expand advanced visual businesses, we've decided to invest 100 billion won in SM Entertainment and the entertainment agency's affiliates,” Naver said in a statement. “The investment also calls for Naver to provide various technology support relevant to the enhancement of livestreaming and community platform.”
SM Entertainment, the country's top entertainment company, manages K-pop acts including EXO, Red Velvet, Super Junior, BoA, NCT and Girls' Generation. Naver's investment came after Chinese e-commerce titan Alibaba acquired a 4 percent stake in SM in 2016. Naver runs the mobile messaging service Line and live broadcasting application VLive. The investment is expected to help Naver become the No. 2 shareholder after SM founder Lee Soo-man.
“The investment will clearly help Naver expand the firm's presence in music, livestreaming and digital content segments. Plus, we expect the decision would also create synergy between content platforms such as VLive and K-pop stars,” according to the statement.
The key implication of Naver's investment in SM is that Naver is allowed to use IP owned by SM Entertainment to lift various entertainment content across its platforms. Naver also partnered with YG Entertainment, home to Blackpink and Big Bang, back in 2017.
“Naver is on track to strengthen the company's competitiveness in the non-physical digital performing business segment by selling advanced live and community-driven paid business models,” its CEO Han Sung-sook was quoted as saying in the release.