Delay in meeting pre-closing conditions pushes back change of largest shareholder by two months

Wemade [Herald DB]
Wemade [Herald DB]

The transfer of the largest shareholder stake in South Korean game developer Wemade has been pushed back roughly two months, from late October to December.

Wemade said Wednesday in an amended regulatory filing that the date for the change of its largest shareholder would be moved from Oct. 30 to Dec. 30, citing delays in satisfying the contractual pre-closing conditions.

"The final payment date and closing date may change depending on whether and when the pre-closing conditions are met," Wemade said in the filing.

In June, Wemade founder and Chairman Park Kwan-ho announced the sale of his entire stake — 39.33 percent — to the NeoPulse consortium, an investment platform company, for 920 billion won ($686 million). NeoPulse paid a 92 billion won deposit on the day the deal was signed, with the balance due by Oct. 30.

The consortium comprises NeoPulse and global game company Kingnet, among others. Kingnet has been locked in a legal dispute with Wemade over the intellectual property rights to "Legend of Mir," Wemade's flagship game title. Once the deal closes, NeoPulse will hold a combined stake of 40.25 percent — on top of its existing shares — becoming the largest shareholder.


park.jiyeong@heraldcorp.com