Sale of control of Wemade delayed, with final payment pushed back two months

[Financial News] The KRW 920 billion share sale transaction that will change Wemade’s largest shareholder has been delayed by two months from the original schedule. This comes after an investor consortium that includes Chinese game company Kingnet pushed the payment date for the KRW 828 billion balance, originally scheduled for the end of this month, to December.
On the 14th, Wemade disclosed that it had changed the scheduled payment date for the balance under the share purchase agreement between its largest shareholder and chairman, Park Kwan-ho, and NeoPulse, as well as the scheduled date for the change in largest shareholder, from October 30 to December 30. The scheduled date for the change in largest shareholder was also adjusted to the same day. The transaction value and number of shares to be transferred remain unchanged.
Wemade explained that this was because fulfillment of the contractual conditions precedent to closing had been delayed.
Earlier, an investor consortium comprising game-focused investment platform NeoPulse, Kingnet and others signed a share purchase agreement (SPA) with Park Kwan-ho, chairman of Wemade, on June 30. The consortium had originally planned to complete the closing procedures, including payment of the balance and regulatory approval, by the 30th of this month.
Once the process is completed in December, the investor consortium will become Wemade’s largest shareholder, holding a 40.25% stake. This is the result of, among other things, an agreement under which NeoPulse would acquire all of Chairman Park’s 39.33% stake in Wemade for about KRW 920 billion, signed in June.
Kingnet is participating in the transaction by acquiring a 49% stake in NeoSphere through its Hong Kong subsidiary, Cypress Technology HK. NeoSphere is the parent company of NeoPulse, the acquisition vehicle for Wemade. Kingnet’s planned investment is $298 million (about KRW 400 billion). After the transaction closes, a group led by Hong Kong investor Mok Pui-ming will hold 51% of NeoSphere, while Kingnet’s side will hold 49%. Kingnet is not directly acquiring Wemade shares, but is participating as a key investor bearing a substantial portion of the funding needed to acquire control of Wemade.
[email protected] Jang Min-kwon Reporter