Naver announced on the 7th that it has made a strategic investment of 150 million dollars in Elang Mahkota Teknologi (hereinafter referred to as M Tech), the largest comprehensive media company in Indonesia. This is equivalent to 1678 billion won in Korean currency. Naver plans to discover and seek new growth opportunities in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, through collaboration with local companies such as M-Tech.
Established in 1983, M-tek owns Indonesian online video service (OTT)’Vidio’ and the nation’s first and second-largest airwave channels and regional airwave channels. Original content production and distribution business is also underway. In addition to the media, entertainment, and content business, it is also developing information technology (IT) solutions such as simple payment, commerce, and cloud. With a market capitalization of $10.3 billion (as of April 7, 2021), it ranks 9th in Indonesia. A Naver official said, “(M-Tech) has many points of contact with Naver, which is growing its global business in the content and cloud fields, including webtoons. We plan to explore various collaboration plans based on the strengths of each company. Webtoon-based content with property (IP) competitiveness can meet local users through the Mtek platform or cooperate in the cloud field,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Naver is expanding its influence in Southeast Asian markets such as Indonesia. Line Webtoon ranks first in the comics category by Google Play in Indonesia and Thailand. Line, which has completed management integration with Z Holdings, also has 81 million users in Southeast Asia including Indonesia. Earlier, it has made strategic investments in Carousell, the largest used trading platform in Southeast Asia, and Bukalapak, the representative e-commerce platform in Indonesia.
Naver leader Lee Jung-an said, “We expect to create synergy in various fields through strategic partnership with M-Tech.” “Focusing on major businesses that Naver is focusing on global expansion potential, such as commerce, content, and cloud, We plan to find contact points with Southeast Asian partners and explore various opportunities based on this.”
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