Kakao (035720) will split its KakaoTalk platform business into a separately listed company, KakaoAI, and rename the surviving investment company Kakao X, the board resolved on 21 August, according to filings made that day.
Shareholders receive 0.3648537 KakaoAI shares for each Kakao share held. The ratio was struck from the new company's ₩2,915.0bn of net assets against ₩7,989.4bn for Kakao including treasury stock, measured on the 30 June balance sheet. Four independent directors were present and none absent.
In a separate filing the same day, Kakao (035720) said Kakao X will then absorb Kakao Investment, a wholly owned subsidiary, in a small-scale merger that issues no new shares. That merger is conditional on the split completing.
Kakao Investment carried ₩2,769.3bn of consolidated assets at the end of FY2025, equal to 10.0% of the ₩27,783.5bn on Kakao's own consolidated balance sheet.
It is a management-consulting company, and booked ₩1.3m of sales and ₩20.8bn of net income in FY2025. The merger filing gives its purpose as simplifying the ownership structure; the split filing says the aim is to clear a structural discount it attributes to a complex portfolio.
An extraordinary meeting on 17 December votes on the split, which takes effect on 1 January 2027. Kakao shares stop trading on 30 December, and KakaoAI is scheduled to relist on 27 January.
kstock reads DART every morning and writes up what moved — the contract, the buyback, the number that does not add up. The daily post and a Saturday roundup, by email.
| Symbol | Last Price |
|---|---|
| 035720Kakao Corp. | ₩36,200 +2.4% |