After a turbulent partnership, MMO companies Nexon and NCsoft have finally parted ways.
Nexon sold its 15.08% of shares back to NCsoft today, ending the two companies’ intertwined and sometimes hostile relationship. The sale of 3.37 million shares amounted to a whopping $533 million and was managed by Morgan Stanley. NCsoft Chief Executive Kim Taek-jin bought 440,000 of those shares personally, raising his stake in the company to 12%.
Nexon first bought into NCsoft back in 2012, looking to forge a beneficial synergy between the two companies. However, the association quickly turned sour as Nexon began exerting demands on NCsoft that the latter resisted, a move that was followed by NCsoft purchasing Netmarble stock as a plan to resist a hostile takeover from Nexon. Tensions between the companies have been frosty ever since.
