Metoon Owner Family Amasses Shares Before Management Rights Sale... 'Valuation Gain Up 400%'

Family and Relatives Divided Stock Purchases at Market Lows in June and July
"Owner Family’s Share Acquisitions Intended to Support Share Price"

Changwook Son, CEO of Metoon, a KOSDAQ-listed company specializing in social casino and casual games, used his immediate family members and underage children to intensively acquire company shares just two to three months before entering into a management rights sale agreement with Kakao Games. By accumulating shares at low prices ahead of a merger and acquisition (M&A), the family realized an unrealized gain of approximately 400% within just two months.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system on September 16, Kakao Games held a board meeting yesterday and resolved to acquire a 39.56% stake in Metoon for around 98 billion won to secure management control. The company will simultaneously purchase existing shares from CEO Son and eight other major shareholders for 70.1 billion won and acquire newly issued shares through a third-party allotment paid-in capital increase for 27.9 billion won. The share sale price is set at 10,000 won per share.

Noteworthy is the unusual pattern of low-priced share purchases by CEO Son's immediate family members and relatives in June and July. The number of special related parties holding Metoon shares increased rapidly from four in May to ten in July. Changhwan Son, Son's physician elder brother, bought an additional 46,653 shares on June 10, increasing his holdings from 85,301 shares to 131,954 shares. Som's spouse, Ji Young Park, purchased a total of 30,096 shares in 16 separate transactions throughout June.

In addition, Son's three underage children—Yesuh Son (born 2011), Yena Son (born 2019), and Yejun Son (born 2021)—each acquired 10,000 Metoon shares, making them listed shareholders. The source of funds for the children's share acquisitions was reported as 'gifts.' Among other relatives, Sora Kim purchased a total of 45,200 shares in three separate transactions in June, raising her holdings to 112,744 shares.

At the time, Metoon explained that, in light of the company’s situation, the stock price was considered too low; therefore, family members decided to buy shares, stating that the transactions were not intended to affect control or management rights.

However, since Kakao Games decided yesterday to buy Metoon’s existing shares at 10,000 won per share, the major shareholder group, which had been accumulating shares at 1,900 to 2,000 won per share, stands to realize substantial gains. The short-term rate of return over those two months exceeds 400%. As of this month, the total number of voting shares held by related parties stands at 461,390 shares.

Changwook Son, CEO of Metoon

Regarding the sequence of share accumulation and the timing of the management rights sale, Metoon has emphasized that M&A discussions with Kakao Games progressed extremely rapidly following initial contact between the two companies. A Metoon official stated, "CEO Son believed the stock was undervalued below 2,000 won and acquired shares as part of responsible management," adding, "This M&A was decided to enable greater growth as a content company."

This M&A marks the first large-scale merger and acquisition led by the newly restructured Kakao Games—following the participation of a LINE Yahoo private equity fund in June. Kakao Games aims to strengthen its social casino and casual gaming lineup and accelerate its global expansion with the acquisition of management control of Metoon. As of 10:12 AM on September 16, Metoon's share price was trading at 3,840 won, up 29.95% from the previous session, while Kakao Games' share price was down 2.94% at 9,590 won.

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