SK Square, CJ ENM take initial steps to merge Wavve, TVING

(Each Company)

SK Square and CJ ENM, the largest shareholders of South Korea’s online video platforms Wavve and TVING, have taken a significant step toward merging the two platforms. The duo announced on Wednesday that they have made strategic investments in Wavve as part of their plan for a phased integration. SK Square holds a 40.5 percent stake in Wavve, while CJ ENM owns 48.9 percent of TVING.

In the initial phase of this merger effort, SK Square and CJ ENM invested 150 billion won ($107.6 million) and 100 billion won respectively into Wavve. Both companies acquired newly issued convertible bonds from Wavve, signaling a clear commitment to strengthening the synergy between the two platforms and enhancing their content competitiveness.

This investment will enable Wavve to settle its financial obligations, including the repayment of maturing convertible bonds to its financial investors by Thursday, while also improving its financial structure and securing resources for further investments.

SK Square and CJ ENM plan to proceed with a corporate merger, subject to regulatory reviews and shareholder approval, to achieve full integration of the two platforms, with an ultimate goal to launch a unified K-OTT platform with global competitiveness, offering users differentiated content and contributing to the development of Korea’s OTT industry ecosystem.

SK Square CEO Han Myung-jin emphasized the importance of the collaboration, saying, “We aim to strengthen the synergy between Wavve and TVING with this strategic joint investment, and will work toward integrating the two platforms to drive the future growth of a unified OTT platform as well as contribute to the advancement of Korea’s OTT industry.”

For his part, CJ ENM CEO Yoon Sang-hyun highlighted the benefits of the partnership, saying, “This investment agreement between the two companies enables a variety of business collaborations, including improved customer convenience and enhanced content offerings. We expect this to increase user satisfaction and bolster the competitiveness of Korea’s domestic OTT platforms.”