Well, in recent news, it looks like nobody wants Nexon. That’s correct, not even other big industry players, according to news reports. It is said that Nexon founder Kim Jung-Ju has canceled his plans to sell 99-percent of controlling stake in the company due to little interest and few buyers.
According to gamesindustry.biz, the word was big players such as Electronic Arts, Amazon, and Comcast were reportedly bidding on the controlling share of Nexon during late February of this year:
“Electronic Arts, Amazon, and Comcast have reportedly begun bidding on the controlling share of South Korean gaming company and MapleStory publisher, Nexon.”
As it stands now, the bids that Electronic Arts, Amazon, and Comcast were prepping are no longer due to Nexon cancellation of the sale after seeing the lack of strategic bidders according to a report by koreaninvestors.com:
“The planned sale of the parent company of South Korea’s biggest online gaming firm Nexon Co. Ltd., was abruptly cancelled after it failed to narrow the valuation gap with financial investors in the lack of strategic bidders […]”
Moreover, unlike the aforesaid big players such as Electronic Arts and the others, Walt Disney did not want anything to do with Nexon’s bid. Both publication sites note the house of the mouse declined the offer regarding the controlling stake. Here’s a quote from the Korean investment site pertaining to the situation:
“Entertainment giant The Walt Disney, which CEO Kim had tapped to sell his company, has not participated in the bidding.”
The next segment from the Korean investment firm should be taken with a grain of salt, given that it comes from an unnamed source. The site claims that it is unlikely that Nexon will put NXC up for sale again:
““We can’t rule out the possibility that NXC would be put up for sale again, but it seems unlikely to happen for some time,” a source with deep knowledge of the matter told the Korean Investors.”
Lastly, the Korean site notes that one of the many reasons Kim Jung-Ju had sought to sell the majority of the stake held by himself, his wife and others in the holding company — since early this year — is due to “heavy” regulations and a “bribery scandal.”
