Kakao拟分拆为Kakao AI与Kakao X，并提出AI增长目标和3000亿韩元回购注销计划

Kakao is completely redesigning its growth structure to align with the artificial intelligence (AI) era.
Kakao (035720.KS) said it held a board meeting on the 21st and resolved to split the company through a spin-off into a new entity, "Kakao AI," which will handle the AI business, and a surviving entity, "Kakao X."
The split ratio was determined based on the book value of net assets, at 0.36 for Kakao AI and 0.64 for Kakao X. Because it is a spin-off, existing shareholders will each be allocated Kakao AI and Kakao X shares according to their holdings.
Kakao plans to complete the split on January 1, 2027, following an extraordinary shareholders' meeting on December 17, and to pursue the relisting of Kakao AI and the changed listing of Kakao X on January 27, 2027. The detailed schedule may change depending on consultations with relevant institutions and related procedures.
According to Kakao, the spin-off is a decision aimed at accelerating decision-making and establishing an efficient capital allocation system by business in response to the AI era. Kakao grew rapidly by leading the mobile era, but as its business scale expanded and its structure became more complex, it determined that there were limits to swiftly executing strategies for businesses at different growth stages under a single decision-making system.
Accordingly, over the past two years or so, Kakao has restructured its governance around growth businesses, including winding down non-core businesses and significantly reducing affiliates. The industry views this split as a full-fledged starting point for connecting the past structural restructuring to growth in the AI era.
Through this split, Kakao plans to establish a structure in which the two entities focus on their respective growth tasks and each business's value is evaluated transparently and appropriately in the market. Kakao AI will clearly separate the role of supporting and managing subsidiary growth to Kakao X, and plans to rapidly expand AI services that citizens can experience in their daily lives, centered on KakaoTalk and AI. Kakao X will take on the role of reawakening Kakao's inherent innovation DNA to discover and nurture new growth pillars such as a second Kakao Bank, Kakao Pay, and Kakao Mobility.
Kakao will grow the two companies after the split into "two engines" that take charge of different growth pillars in the AI era.
Kakao AI will grow into an "AI Core Company" that organically connects AI, advertising, and commerce centered on KakaoTalk to create differentiated user experiences and revenue models for the agentic AI era. Shin Jung-a, the current Kakao CEO, has been designated as CEO. Operating subsidiaries such as DKTechin and K&Works will be included under Kakao AI.
Kakao AI will redesign the relationships, conversations, and service connection capabilities that KakaoTalk has accumulated over the past 15 years to suit the AI era. The plan is to evolve it beyond a messenger that is the same for everyone into an "Agentic AI Interface" that best understands the intent and context of each of its approximately 50 million users. When a user conveys what they want through a message, a personalized AI agent connects the necessary services and specialized agents to complete the desired result, from search and recommendation to purchase and payment. Through this, Kakao AI plans to expand the capabilities and possibilities of each individual user.
Kakao AI plans to secure more than 20 million AI daily active users by 2030 and to increase platform dwell time by more than 50%. It also aims to expand new revenue models such as AI advertising, agentic commerce, and subscriptions, driving average annual revenue growth of around 20% by 2030 and achieving Kakao AI revenue of more than 6 trillion won. It expects AI revenue to expand to a double-digit share of Kakao AI's total revenue in 2028 and to exceed 1 trillion won in 2030.
As a "future value investment company," Kakao X will stably grow its existing core business groups, including techfin (Kakao Bank, Kakao Pay, Kakao Pay Securities), content (Kakao Entertainment, SM Entertainment, Kakao Piccoma), and mobility (Kakao Mobility), while also securing future growth engines through discovering new businesses and investing in innovative companies. Kim Do-young, CEO of Kakao Investment and head of the group investment strategy office at the Kakao CA Council, has been designated as CEO.
Kakao X plans to find markets that have not yet changed sufficiently at the intersection of technology and life, create new standards in a Kakao-like manner, and grow growth businesses that build on existing success stories. Virtual assets, physical AI, and global fandom are among the main areas under review.
To this end, Kakao X plans to utilize approximately 2.3 trillion won raised through the liquidation of its holdings and investment funds of approximately 4.1 trillion won held by its subsidiaries. Based on the growth of its core businesses and the results of new investments, it aims to achieve an average annual growth rate of around 13.3% in the revenue of its major businesses by 2030 and to build a growth base with revenue of more than 10 trillion won. Through this, it plans to establish a virtuous cycle of capital in which investment results lead to shareholder returns and reinvestment, befitting its identity as a future value investment company.
Kakao expects that once each company's performance and financial information accumulate independently after the split, the value of each business will also be evaluated more clearly. This month, the potential value of the Kakao Group stood at 34.2 trillion won based on the average SOTP (sum-of-the-parts valuation) consensus of research centers at domestic and foreign securities firms. This is about 1.74 trillion won higher than Kakao's market capitalization of 1.68 trillion won on average over the past three months.
Kakao AI and Kakao X will each form boards optimized for the nature of their businesses to enhance expertise and decision-making efficiency. After the split, the two companies plan to regularly disclose key indicators such as revenue, profitability, investment execution, and shareholder returns, along with capital allocation principles, and to expand domestic and international investor relations events and shareholder communication programs.
Measures to enhance shareholder value will also be pursued. Kakao AI will use 20 to 35% of its separate adjusted free cash flow (FCF) as basic shareholder return funds. Kakao X presented a shareholder return policy of using 30% of subsidiary dividends and 30% of investment gains as shareholder return funds. It also announced a plan to buy back and cancel 300 billion won worth of treasury shares using recent gains from the sale of Dunamu.
Meanwhile, Kakao's position is that it will stably maintain employment, working conditions, benefits, and business continuity even after the split. The services, businesses, personnel composition, assets, technology, and models to be succeeded by Kakao AI will be operated based on the continuity of existing work.
Kakao CEO Shin Jung-a said, "This split is a decision for Kakao to transition to a structure of speed and responsibility suited to the AI era," adding, "We will strive to ensure that Kakao AI and Kakao X establish strategies and capital allocation principles suited to their respective business characteristics, execute more quickly, and transparently communicate their performance with the market."
Kakao founder Kim Beom-su said, "In the mobile era, Kakao was the first to jump onto uncharted paths, creating innovation and changing users' daily lives," adding, "As the AI era demands agility of a different dimension, we will redesign our growth structure with the two engines of Kakao AI and Kakao X, and lend our strength to ensure that the results return to shareholders, users, and crew alike."