Naver Invests 100 Billion Won Into YG Entertainment

Naver, the single largest internet corporation in Korea, has invested 100 billion won (approximately $88.5 million) into YG Entertainment.

YG Entertainment reported on March 17, “Through YG’s collaboration with Korea’s biggest internet corporation which owns the global messenger system LINE, we believe that our global market will become bigger and stronger. At the same time, we believe that there will be a new, high-potential synergy.”

Naver has invested 50 billion won (approximately $44.1 million) into YG in purchasing shares, which makes them the second largest YG shareholder with 9.14 percent. Naver also invested another 50 billion won into YG Investment Fund, which is a subsidiary company of YG Plus. The funds are to be used for media contents and mobile systems.

Yang Min Seok, YG’s CEO, said, “With its music content, YG has increased its revenue by over 30 precent each year over the last 10 years. To be able to support this growth, we have also worked hard to expand our content. We have expanded our star marketing aspects from managing singers to also managing actors, comedians, and anchors. At the same time, we have scouted a number of producers as well as invested and casted artists to focus on internally produced contents. With our partnership with Naver, a platform powerhouse, we plan to develop into a content leader.”

YG added, “With our collaboration with Naver, we will be making our content more approachable through Naver platforms such as V Live, LINE, SNOW, as these have a large user base not only in Korea, but globally. Because of this, we can expect a steady growth in a global economic market that is ever changing.”

Meanwhile, Naver stated, “Through our work with YG, who is a hallyu contents leader, we hope to expand into the global market through a variety of cultural content.” They added, “There are many ways that we can collaborate, including music, live broadcasts, web contents, and even shopping.”

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