{"id":6905,"date":"2026-09-20T20:24:37","date_gmt":"2026-09-21T03:24:37","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.gamesround.com\/blog\/?p=6905"},"modified":"2026-09-20T20:24:37","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T03:24:37","slug":"kakao-games-me2on-premium-everplay-bulkhead-nex-150m","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gamesround.com\/blog\/kakao-games-me2on-premium-everplay-bulkhead-nex-150m","title":{"rendered":"Kakao Games’ 3.2x Premium For ME2ON, Everplay’s Bulkhead Step-Up, And Nex’s $150M Round"},"content":{"rendered":"

South Korea produced the defining transaction of the week, and the number that matters is not the size of the cheque but the multiple attached to it. Elsewhere, a shooter that moved two million copies in five days rewrote a UK publisher’s guidance, a family console maker pulled in more than $150M, and Tokyo absorbed another games-adjacent listing.<\/p>\n

Kakao Games Takes 39.56% Of ME2ON At 3.2x The Market Price<\/strong> Kakao Games<\/a> (KOSDAQ: 293490) is paying $72.1M (KRW 98.0B) for 39.56% of social casino and casual developer ME2ON<\/a> (KOSDAQ: 201490), across two transactions its board signed off on September 15. The first is a secondary purchase: 7,011,390 shares, a 21.43% block held by founder and CEO Son Chang-wook together with eight related parties, at KRW 10,000 apiece for $51.6M (KRW 70.1B). The second is primary \u2014 ME2ON issues 9,817,118 new shares to Kakao Games at KRW 2,842, raising $20.5M (KRW 27.9B), of which KRW 19.2B goes to working capital and KRW 8.7B retires debt. Between them, the two legs hand Kakao Games 16,828,508 shares, the largest shareholding, and its own appointees on the board from closing. Settlement for both falls on November 16, 2026, pending clearance from the Korea Fair Trade Commission<\/a>, with the new shares listing December 1.<\/p>\n

The Premium Is The Story<\/strong> ME2ON closed at KRW 3,110 on September 14. The KRW 10,000 paid to the selling shareholders is 3.2 times that \u2014 a 221.5% control premium, and one of the widest paid for a listed Korean games asset in recent memory. Marked at the block price, ME2ON’s equity is worth $240.7M (KRW 327.2B) on a 100% basis, or 2.7x FY2025 revenue of $85.1M (KRW 120.9B) and 26.0x EBIT of $8.9M (KRW 12.6B). The market’s own view the day before was $74.9M (KRW 101.8B) \u2014 0.8x revenue and 8.1x EBIT. Note the asymmetry inside the deal itself: the founder’s block cleared at a 3.2x premium while the new shares went out at KRW 2,842, some 8.6% below<\/em> the same close. Kakao Games paid up for control and bought the fresh capital at a discount. For context on the sector, Netmarble<\/a> (KOSPI: 251270) paid $2.19B for SpinX Games<\/a> in 2021 at roughly 5.0x revenue, and Aristocrat<\/a> (ASX: ALL) paid $990M for Big Fish Games<\/a> in 2017 at 2.2x revenue and 11.9x adj. EBITDA. On revenue, then, this is not an outlier. On earnings it plainly is \u2014 which tells you the buyer is underwriting a recovery, not the last twelve months.<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
TERM<\/strong><\/td>\nDETAIL<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Control block<\/strong><\/td>\nKRW 10,000 per share for 7,011,390 shares (21.43%) from founder Son Chang-wook and eight related parties \u2014 3.2x the KRW 3,110 close of September 14<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
New shares<\/strong><\/td>\nKRW 2,842 per share for 9,817,118 newly issued shares, 8.6% below that close. KRW 19.2B to working capital, KRW 8.7B to debt repayment<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Total consideration<\/strong><\/td>\n$72.1M (KRW 98.0B) \u2014 $51.6M (KRW 70.1B) to the sellers, $20.5M (KRW 27.9B) into the company, for 16,828,508 shares (39.56%)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Implied equity value<\/strong><\/td>\n$240.7M (KRW 327.2B) at the block price on a 100% basis: 2.7x FY2025 revenue, 26.0x FY2025 EBIT<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Timetable<\/strong><\/td>\nBoth legs settle November 16, 2026, subject to KFTC clearance; new shares list December 1. Kakao Games appointees replace the board at closing<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>
Converted at KRW 1,359.4 per USD, the rate on September 15, 2026. ME2ON carries no bank debt, so equity value at the block price doubles as enterprise value. Terms per board resolutions filed with DART<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What Kakao Games Is Actually Buying<\/strong> ME2ON listed on KOSDAQ in 2016, six years after it was founded, and its core is social casino: Full House Casino<\/em>, with more than eight million downloads across the App Store and Google Play, alongside Fulpot Poker<\/em> and Classic Vegas Casino<\/em>. A 45.1%-owned subsidiary, Ghost Studio (KOSDAQ: 950190), covers the casual side with the card game TriPeaks Journey<\/em> and match-3 title Match Miracle: Triple Match 3D<\/em>. Games accounted for 61% of FY2025 revenue at $51.5M (KRW 73.3B); a further 31%, or $26.4M (KRW 37.5B), came from talent management and drama production through Ghost Studio Entertainment, and 8%, $7.1M (KRW 10.0B), from webtoons and web novels via Bluepic and Metoon&Novel. North America supplied 65% of games revenue in Q2’26 \u2014 the asset is Korean-listed but its players are largely American.<\/p>\n

The financial history explains both the discount ME2ON traded at and the confidence behind the premium. EBIT fell in every year from FY2021 through FY2024, from $30.1M (KRW 34.5B) at a 31% margin down to $8.7M (KRW 11.8B). FY2025 broke the run: revenue climbed 28% in won terms after a 13% decline the year before, and EBIT edged up 7% in won to $8.9M (KRW 12.6B), though margin kept slipping to 10% as the non-games businesses grew. The first half of FY2026 is the more persuasive data point \u2014 $35.2M (KRW 47.9B) of revenue at $6.4M (KRW 8.7B) of EBIT, an 18% margin, nearly double the full-year FY2025 figure.<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
YEAR<\/strong><\/td>\nREVENUE<\/strong><\/td>\nEBIT<\/strong><\/td>\nMARGIN<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
FY2021<\/strong><\/td>\n$96M (KRW 106.7B)<\/td>\n$30M (KRW 34.5B)<\/td>\n31%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
FY2022<\/strong><\/td>\n$87M (KRW 112.0B)<\/td>\n$21M (KRW 27.0B)<\/td>\n24%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
FY2023<\/strong><\/td>\n$83M (KRW 109.0B)<\/td>\n$17M (KRW 22.1B)<\/td>\n20%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
FY2024<\/strong><\/td>\n$69M (KRW 94.3B)<\/td>\n$9M (KRW 11.8B)<\/td>\n13%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
FY2025<\/strong><\/td>\n$85M (KRW 120.9B)<\/td>\n$9M (KRW 12.6B)<\/td>\n10%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>
Each year converted at that year’s average rate, which flattens the FY2025 rebound: revenue rose 28% in won but 23% in dollars. Margin is EBIT over revenue and reads the same in either currency.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A New Owner Spending For The First Time<\/strong> This is the opening move of the post-takeover Kakao Games. Japan’s LY Corporation<\/a> assumed control in June through a restructuring worth around $370M and installed co-CEOs Kim Tae-hwan, previously of Nexon<\/a> (TSE: 3659) and LINE Games, and Lee Si-woo. They inherited a business in retreat: FY2025 revenue fell 26% to $327.0M (KRW 465.0B) with an operating loss of $27.9M (KRW 39.6B). Kim told investors in August that more than ten domestic and international targets were under review, and was explicit that the opening bracket would be deals in the tens of billions of won rather than the hundreds. ME2ON, at KRW 98.0B, lands squarely in it. “This acquisition marks the first step in executing a merger and acquisition strategy with proven business feasibility and profitability under our new leadership, and Kakao Games will continue to pursue M&A for its future,” Lee said. It arrives a week after Align Studio, which Kakao Games backs, bought the ArcheAge<\/em> MMORPG IP from XL Games<\/a> for $29.2M (KRW 39.2B). Two deals in two weeks is a pattern worth watching.<\/p>\n

In Other News<\/strong><\/p>\n

Everplay Doubles Down On Bulkhead After Wardogs<\/strong> Everplay Group<\/a> (AIM: EVPL) has lifted its holding in Super Media Group, parent of UK developer Bulkhead<\/a>, from 20% to 28% for $2.7M (GBP 2.0M), exercising an option struck in December 2025 when it took the original 20% as Bulkhead’s founders carved the studio out of Tencent-owned Splash Damage<\/a>. The timing is not accidental. Bulkhead’s Unreal Engine 5 multiplayer shooter Wardogs<\/em>, published by Team17<\/a>, sold more than a million copies on its first day in Early Access on September 10 and two million inside five days, peaked above 400,000 concurrent players over its opening weekend, and overtook the group sales record Hell Let Loose: Vietnam<\/em> had set only weeks earlier. Disclosed alongside H1 FY26 results, the step-up came with guidance that FY26 revenue and adj. EBITDA will land materially ahead of the $236.1M (GBP 175.2M) and $68.3M (GBP 50.7M) consensus. The shares are up 46.5% from the day before launch, 289p to 423.5p at the September 18 close.<\/p>\n

Bohemia Interactive Backs Its Own Incubator Graduate<\/strong> Czech developer and publisher Bohemia Interactive<\/a> has taken a minority stake in Warsaw-based Enjoy Studio for an undisclosed sum \u2014 its first investment in a Polish studio. The two already work together: Bohemia publishes Enjoy’s co-op first-person survival RPG Everwind<\/em>, which has sold more than 300,000 copies at $24.99 since entering Early Access on March 17, 2026, and the remastered platformer Space Tail: Definitive Edition<\/em>, out in August 2026. Founded in 2020, Enjoy joined the Bohemia Incubator publishing programme in 2024. The money funds Everwind<\/em>‘s full release and console ports, and Enjoy retains creative independence.<\/p>\n

Nex Raises More Than $150M For Its Living-Room Console<\/strong> Nex<\/a>, the US maker of the family active-play console Nex Playground, has raised over $150M in equity and debt \u2014 a Series E co-led by Baillie Gifford<\/a> and BAI Capital with NBA Investments, Logitech<\/a> (NASDAQ: LOGI), Medici Capital Partners and The Raine Group, plus a new J.P. Morgan credit facility that accounts for roughly half the total. The motion-tracking console launched in December 2023 and has sold at $299 since April 2026 after two price rises driven by memory chip costs; it has moved more than a million units through 7,000 US stores, and the Play Pass subscriber base has grown sevenfold in 18 months to near a million. CEO David Lee, who founded the company in 2017 after building basketball-training app HomeCourt, says Nex turned profitable in 2025 \u2014 having raised just $40M in total by its $25M Series B in September 2021. The capital funds inventory and launches in Germany this year, then Japan and South Korea in 2027. Former Niantic<\/a> CFO Jeff Shouger joins as CFO, and former EA chief creative officer Bing Gordon takes a board seat.<\/p>\n

Two Smaller Rounds Worth Noting<\/strong><\/p>\n