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Naver to acquire Wattpad

South Korean internet platform Naver will purchase online social writing and reading platform Wattpad for more than US$600 million (A$775 million) in cash and stock, reports Publishers Weekly (PW).

Naver, a search engine and digital services provider, expects to close the acquisition by the second quarter of 2021, with Wattpad to become part of the business under Naver’s Webtoon comics platform.

‘Wattpad joining Webtoon under the Naver umbrella is a big step towards us becoming a leading global multimedia entertainment company,’ said Webtoon founder and CEO Jun Koo Kim. ‘Both Wattpad and Webtoon care most about helping creators tell their story their way, and both represent world-leading collections of inspired, imaginative storytelling IP.’

Based in Toronto, Canada, Wattpad has more than five million writers contributing to the site, and reached some 90 million people in 2020, PW reports. The platform has its own YA publishing imprint and says some 1500 works from the site have been turned into books, film or television. Co-founders Allen Lau and Ivan Yuen will continue to lead Wattpad after its acquisition.

 

Category: International news