TPG-led consortium invests KRW 500 billion into Kakao Mobility for aggressive business expansion

[2017.06.30] Kakao, Korea’s largest online and mobile platform operator, and TPG, a global alternative asset firm, announced today a strategic partnership to establish the mobility-focused business Kakao Mobility as an independent entity. As part of the partnership, a TPG-led consortium will invest KRW 500 billion into Kakao Mobility to help scale the business, enhancing its ability to reach more customers with a broader range of innovative services.

As an independent entity, Kakao Mobility will provide the Kakao Taxi, Kakao Driver, and Kakao Navi services and introduce new services in the second half of this year, including a parking service. Kakao initially decided to spin off its mobility business and establish Kakao Mobility last month as part of its strategic move to pursue new growth in the mobility business through swift decision making and aggressive expansion. Mr. Joohwan Jung, previously the vice president of Kakao’s mobility business, has been appointed to serve as CEO of the new legal entity.

“As part of larger global trends, the traditional offline industry sector has been undergoing rapid transformation into developing online offerings, with the mobility business a particularly exciting and high-attention area,” said Joohwan Jung, CEO of Kakao Mobility. “We see infinite opportunities ahead, and will strive to create new value for both users and businesses across the mobility business through strategic partnerships and by securing the top talent.”

“Kakao Mobility has an innovative business model that is set to benefit from a rapidly emerging Korean mobility industry,” said Tim Dattels, Managing Partner of TPG Capital Asia. “For many years, across the firm’s platforms, we have been focused on identifying and partnering with disruptive companies similar to Kakao Mobility that are challenging, transforming, and evolving existing industries. We look forward to using this experience to help the newly-formed company grow.”

With the spinoff of the mobility business and new investment, Kakao plans to accelerate the growth and commercialization of Kakao Taxi, which currently receives up to 1.5 million calls daily. A corporate call taxi service will be introduced in the third quarter of this year, and advertisements on the Kakao Taxi app will also gradually be expanded. An automatic payment system via Kakao Pay is also under development in partnership with Korea Smart Card Corporation and global expansion will pick up in speed, similar to the collaboration that Kakao is doing in Japan with Japan Taxi. Kakao Taxi will also focus on refining and expanding its existing business models, such as test drives offered via partnerships with local and global car manufacturing companies, and the Kakao Taxi Black service.

Kakao Driver, which recently celebrated its first anniversary, will accelerate its growth with expanded marketing initiatives. The number of users for the service grew from 2.2 million in February 2016 to 2.7 million in June 2017, with almost 70% in return users within four weeks. Kakao is strengthening its efforts to grow with existing business partners and is exploring ways to offer unique benefits to both users and drivers.

Kakao will also continue its efforts to enhance Kakao Navi through big data. Navigation using real-time traffic information, prediction of traffic volume prior to holiday seasons, and recommendations of popular or frequently visited destinations will be a key focus for the service. As of June 2017, Kakao Navi has 10 million users, with the number of users and monthly usage having grown by 87% and 92%, respectively, since the service’s launch in February 2016.

The investment in Kakao Mobility reflects TPG’s thematic approach to partnering with companies that are finding creative ways to serve the needs and interests of today’s consumer, such as the firm’s investments in live entertainment company Cirque du Soleil, and leading sports and entertainment agency CAA. Headquartered in Fort Worth and San Francisco, TPG sits alongside some of the most innovative and disruptive companies that are transforming the world’s economy, giving the firm a unique view into the rapidly changing internet and digital media space. Select investments in the mobility sector include, Airbnb, Lynda.com, Spotify, Uber and Vice Media.

Kakao Mobility Service

Kakao Taxi
Number of users: 14.9 million
Number of drivers: 224,000
Accumulated rides: 240 million
Calls received per day: 1.5 million

Kakao Driver
Number of users: 2.7 million
Number of drivers: 78,000
Accumulated rides: 14 million
Retention rate (within 4 weeks): 68%

Kakao Navi
Number of users: 10 million
Monthly active users: 4.3 million

Contact Information
Kakao: Buster Suh / +82-10-3744-9219 / +82-2-6718-0678 / buster.28@kakaocorp.com
TPG (Edelman Korea): Cheehyun Lee /+82-10-8630-0656 /+82-2-2022-8235 /chee.lee@edelman.com
Carie Jang / +82-10-5052-8521 / +82-2-2022-8265 / carie.jang@edelman.com

About Kakao
Kakao (KOSDAQ: 035720) is a mobile lifestyle platform company with services spanning messaging, mail, search, news, advertising, gaming, e-commerce, music, maps and more. Headquartered in South Korea, Kakao reaches consumers, businesses and others via its portfolio of popular assets: Kakao Talk, Kakao Game, Daum News and Daum Webtoon, among others. In line with the vision to “Connect Everything” Kakao plans to center its focus on creating an environment of real-time interconnectivity, thereby enriching lives and delivering value to consumers, businesses, partners and shareholders alike. The company, formed through the merger of Daum Communications and Kakao Corp in October 1, 2014, changed its name from Daum Kakao to Kakao on September 23rd 2015.

TPG
TPG is a leading global alternative asset firm founded in 1992 with more than $73 billion of assets under management and offices in Austin, Beijing, Boston, Dallas, Fort Worth, Hong Kong, Houston, London, Luxembourg, Melbourne, Moscow, Mumbai, New York, San Francisco, Seoul, and Singapore. TPG’s investment platforms are across a wide range of asset classes, including private equity, growth venture, real estate, credit, and public equity. TPG aims to build dynamic products and options for its investors while also instituting discipline and operational excellence across its investment strategies and the performance of its portfolio. For more information, visit www.tpg.com.