Korean messaging app in $3bn merger
Kakao, the dominant messaging app firm in South Korea, has agreed to buy internet portal company Daum Communications in a $3.3bn (£1.96bn) stock deal, circumventing a potentially time-consuming initial public offering process with a back door listing. With the deal, Kakao is seeking to mount a serious challenge to Naver, the country’s biggest internet portal operator and owner of Line – the dominant messaging app in Japan, which has been more successful expanding overseas.