[Alpha Biz= Paul Lee] South Korea’s National Pension Service (NPS) has acquired an additional stake in Kakao Corp. (035720), investing over ₩185 billion (approx. $135 million) in May. This move brings the NPS’s total ownership in the tech giant to 6.4%, up from 5.36% as of October 2023.



According to a regulatory filing with the Financial Supervisory Service’s electronic disclosure system (DART) on June 2, the NPS purchased 4,532,551 shares of Kakao at ₩40,950 per share on May 27.



With this acquisition, NPS now holds a total of 28,289,525 shares, becoming Kakao’s third-largest shareholder, following founder Kim Beom-su and affiliate K Cube Holdings.



The NPS stated in its filing that the purchase was made for “investment purposes only.”



Kakao’s share price has nearly doubled in 2024, rising from the ₩30,000 range at the beginning of the year to over ₩70,000 in May.



In addition to Kakao, NPS also disclosed the acquisition of 860,056 shares of Netmarble (251270) and 191,727 shares of NCSoft (036570), investing over ₩100 billion in the gaming sector on the same day.

 

 

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