Kakao has resolved to carry out a spin-off that will divide the company into KakaoAI and KakaoX.
The announcement that two companies will be created alone makes it difficult to determine how one’s shares and KakaoTalk will immediately change.
Looking separately at the split ratio, the businesses each company will handle, and the remaining procedures shows where this announcement currently stands.
3-line summary
1. Kakao has resolved to split off its AI and investment divisions
2. Existing shareholders are structured to receive shares in both companies
3. Nothing is final before the shareholders’ meeting and listing procedures
What KakaoAI 0.36 and KakaoX 0.64 Mean
This decision is a proportional spin-off. Kakao’s board of directors resolved to divide the company into the new corporation KakaoAI and the surviving corporation KakaoX. The split ratios, based on the book value of net assets, are 0.36 and 0.64, respectively.
Kakao said existing shareholders will be allocated shares in both companies according to these ratios. This means the plan is not structured so that only one company remains and the other business disappears; rather, businesses previously within the existing company will be divided between the two corporations.
However, these ratios are part of the split plan that still awaits the shareholders’ meeting and listing procedures. Further procedures must proceed before it becomes specific which securities current holdings will become and when they will trade. It is too early to take the numbers alone as meaning that either company’s value has already been determined.
KakaoTalk Goes to KakaoAI; Affiliate Investments Go to KakaoX
The business division is relatively clear. KakaoAI is expected to include AI, advertising, and commerce businesses centered on KakaoTalk. Kakao presented a plan to develop KakaoTalk into a service that connects search, recommendations, purchases, and payments in response to users’ requests.
Meanwhile, KakaoX plans to handle techfin, content, and mobility businesses—including techfin businesses such as KakaoBank and Kakao Pay, content businesses such as Kakao Entertainment, and Kakao Mobility—as well as new-business investments. Rather than splitting the same work between the two corporations, the reorganization is closer to operating platform and AI businesses separately from affiliate management and investment.
Targets for KakaoAI’s users and revenue, as well as KakaoX’s investment resources and growth targets, were also announced. However, these are targets and plans presented by the company, not results already achieved. The clearest fact in this announcement is the decision to separate business ownership; the target figures themselves do not guarantee results.
Shareholders’ Meeting on 12월 17일, Listing Targeted for 1월 27일
Kakao said it will complete the split on 2027년 1월 1일 following an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting on 12월 17일, and pursue KakaoAI’s relisting and KakaoX’s change of listing on 1월 27일 of the same month. According to a report by Yonhap Infomax, Kakao also applied to the Korea Exchange for a KOSPI split-relisting preliminary review.
The important word here is “pursue.” The company said the detailed schedule may change depending on consultations with relevant institutions and related procedures. Therefore, while the company division and split plan as of the announcement date have been confirmed, trading in the two securities has not begun on the scheduled dates.
For users, the point to watch first is that KakaoTalk is expected to be succeeded by KakaoAI; for shareholders, it is the extraordinary shareholders’ meeting schedule and relisting procedures. Kakao also stated its policy of maintaining employment, working conditions, employee benefits, and business continuity.
The Stock Price Decline on the Day of the Announcement Has Been Confirmed
The market reaction on the first day of the split-plan announcement was not positive. According to a report by The Elec, Kakao closed at 3만5800원 on the 21st, down 7.49% from the previous trading day. Munhwa Ilbo reported that the intraday decline exceeded 13%.
This movement is a confirmed stock price reaction immediately following the split announcement. By contrast, how the two companies’ business performance and corporate value will be assessed after the split is not yet a settled outcome. It is appropriate not to combine the announcement-day price with long-term plans into the same conclusion.
This reorganization is Kakao’s plan to separate AI-centered platform businesses from affiliate and investment businesses. For shareholders, the next point to check is not only the split ratio, but whether passage at the shareholders’ meeting and the listing schedule actually proceed. For users, the company’s policy that services will continue and actual service changes remain separate issues.
Guidelines for Reading the Next Announcement
It is difficult to reach a conclusion from Kakao-related news based on only one number or one sentence. The meaning becomes clearer when you distinguish who made the announcement, whether the statement is an already implemented fact or a future plan, and whether the target and timing are specifically presented.
Even within the same material, an explanation of necessity, discussions, implementation plans, and actual implementation may be different stages. Even if the scale of an announcement appears large, you should check both what it targets and what procedures remain in order not to overstate or understate the current situation.
In the next update, compare whether a new announcement repeats the existing content or whether the target, schedule, or implementation status has actually changed. Reviewing the original sources listed in the references can also reveal differences in wording that are easy to miss from the headline alone.
References
Tags #Kakao #KakaoCorporateSplit #KakaoAI #KakaoX #KakaoTalk #KakaoStock #KakaoRelisting #KakaoSplitRatio #KakaoShareholdersMeeting #KakaoStockPrice #KakaoAIBusiness #KakaoXInvestment