Golden Finance reported that on June 12th, Bloomberg, citing informed sources, said that Tencent Holdings Limited (0700.HK) is evaluating the acquisition of the South Korean game company Nexon Co for approximately 15 billion US dollars (about 107.7 billion yuan). The possibility has been explored, and contact has been made with the family of the late founder of Nexon, Kim Jung-joo, regarding the relevant matters. If this news is true, it will have a significant impact on the global gaming industry landscape.
Nexon, as a leading enterprise in the South Korean gaming industry, holds an important position in the global gaming market. The company was founded in 1994 and is one of the earliest enterprises in South Korea to commercially operate online games. It has a rich product line of games and operates over 40 well-known games such as “Dungeon & Fighter” (DNF), “Adventure Island”, “Kartrider”, “Bubble Pop”, and “Ragnarok”. Its business covers 190 countries around the world. In 2011, Nexon was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, with its market value once exceeding 20 billion US dollars. As of June 2025, the company’s market value is approximately 15 billion US dollars. Although it has declined from its peak in 2021, it has increased by more than 10% compared to the beginning of this year.
The cooperation between Tencent and Nexon has a long history. Take “Dungeon & Fighter” as an example. Since its introduction to China, this game has been operated by Tencent and has been one of the important sources of revenue for Tencent’s game business for many years. The two sides have been collaborating continuously in product operation and IP development. Just last year, the single-player ARPG “Kazan”, which was launched based on the DNF IP, achieved excellent results, and its Chinese region was also confirmed to be represented by Tencent. Recently, during the 2024 fiscal year earnings call, Nexon executives stated that they have signed a joint development agreement with Tencent. In the future, they will jointly develop the domestic server of DNF, further emphasizing the demands of Chinese players and increasing localization investment, with the aim of boosting DNF’s sales in the Chinese market. Furthermore, Embark Studios, a subsidiary of Nexon, signed an agreement with Tencent, handing over THE operation rights of the Chinese servers of “THE FINALS” and “ARC Raider” to Tencent and allowing it to customize localized content based on the characteristics of domestic players.
Tencent’s consideration of acquiring Nexon this time was not without warning signs. As early as 2019, Jin Zhengzhou had planned to sell his equity in Nexon. At that time, Tencent had considered joining forces with private equity institutions to launch a bidding war, but due to significant differences in valuation between the two sides, the sale plan was eventually put on hold. Since then, the holding structure of Nexon has undergone several changes. After Kim Jung-joo’s death in 2022, his family transferred part of NXC’s equity to the South Korean government to pay the high inheritance tax and sold some of the outstanding shares in 2023. The South Korean government once attempted to sell its shares in NXC but failed to find a buyer. At present, the widow and daughter of Kim Jung-Joo hold 48.42% of the shares through the holding company NXC, and the Saudi Public Investment Fund holds 10.51%. According to the interim report of Nexon, as of June 30, NXC together with its affiliated unit NXMH BV held a total of 44.4% of the shares of Nexon.
For Tencent, if it successfully acquires Nexon, it will greatly enhance its global IP reserves. At present, although Tencent has made extensive layouts in the global gaming market and invested in or held shares of many major global gaming companies such as Riot Games, Super Cell, and Activision Blizzard, the classic and diverse game ips under Nexon can further enrich Tencent’s product matrix. Reducing its reliance on a single domestic business will help Tencent gain a more favorable position in the global gaming market competition. If the deal is concluded, Tencent will hold or indirectly hold the equity of the top five game companies in South Korea, namely Netmarble, Nexon, Krafton, Ncsoft and Shift Up.
However, at present, this acquisition intention is still in the early assessment stage. Insiders disclosed that the negotiations have not yet formed a clear transaction structure, and it is also unknown how much Nexon will accept the sale of its shares. There are still many uncertainties as to whether the deal can eventually proceed. Tencent, Nexon and NXC have not responded to this news so far. Once there are any new developments in the future, it will undoubtedly once again draw the high attention of the global gaming industry and the capital market, and the result will also profoundly influence the development direction of the global gaming industry in the future.
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