Bloomberg: Tencent Plans to Acquire Nexon, Developer of "DNF" and "MapleStory"

BlockBeats News, June 12 — According to Bloomberg, Tencent Holdings Ltd. is exploring the possibility of acquiring South Korean gaming company Nexon. Tencent has reportedly contacted the family of Nexon's late founder, Kim Jung-ju, to discuss a potential deal. It is said that the Kim family is consulting advisors and evaluating various options.

Insiders have noted that it remains unclear how willing NXC is to sell its stake in Nexon, and there is no guarantee that Tencent's discussions will result in a transaction. The exact structure of any potential deal has yet to be determined. Tencent representatives did not respond to requests for comment, while both Nexon and NXC declined to comment.

Founded in 1994 and renowned for role-playing games such as MapleStory, Nexon completed what was then the largest tech IPO in Japan in 2011. Its Tokyo-listed shares have surged over 10% this year, giving the company a market value of approximately $15 billion. Tencent previously attempted to acquire Nexon in 2019 but was unsuccessful. The two companies have worked together in the past to develop Dungeon Fighter Online, one of Tencent's key revenue-generating games.

Notably, in March of this year, Nexon announced that its classic game MapleStory would partner with Ava Labs to officially enter the Avalanche Network with a Web3 version titled MapleStory Universe. The in-game token NXPC was listed on several platforms, including Binance, Bybit, Bitget, Upbit, and Bithumb, during its Token Generation Event (TGE) in mid-May.

Following this announcement, NXPC saw a short-term gain of over 11%, and it is currently priced at $1.33.