Kakao Holds Emergency Staff Meeting This Morning... Governance Restructuring on the Table?

Possibility of KakaoTalk Spin-Off and More

On the morning of August 21, Kakao will hold an emergency meeting for its employees. The industry expects that the agenda will include matters related to Kakao’s restructuring of its governance structure, including a potential spin-off of KakaoTalk.

According to the IT industry on the same day, Kakao notified all employees at 6 p.m. the previous day that it would hold an “Open Talk” (an internal town hall meeting) for staff at 10 a.m. on August 21. While Kakao regularly holds Open Talks, it is unusual to announce one as an emergency only a day in advance. In addition, this Open Talk will be released only to those attending in person. Kakao has typically broadcast Open Talks online for employees working from home.

Kakao Pangyo Ajit, Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

Kakao has not disclosed the detailed agenda for the Open Talk scheduled for the day. However, the industry expects that discussion regarding a spin-off of KakaoTalk will take place. According to industry sources, Kakao is reportedly considering spinning off KakaoTalk as a separate entity and converting the existing Kakao into a holding company.

There are also expectations that the overall governance structure of the group, including its subsidiaries, will be discussed. Kakao Mobility, a subsidiary of Kakao, has recently begun procedures for listing on the U.S. stock exchange. The listing is reportedly being spearheaded by Texas Pacific Group (TPG), the second-largest shareholder of Kakao Mobility, which is a private equity fund.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.