The South Korean internet giant NAVER is acquiring Wattpad in a $600 million deal.

The deal is all about accelerating growth, and it’s “good for the creative community,” said Wattpad co-founder and CEO Allen Lau.

“It is the beginning of a new chapter, and using TV show terminology, this is episode one of season two, so I’m absolutely looking forward to this,” he said in a CBC article.

How will NAVER acquiring Wattpad lead to growth?

Wattpad is a platform that allows writers to share their stories, and it has book publishing and studio entertainment divisions.

NAVER already owns Webtoon, a webcomics platform that’s worked on hit films like The Lego Movie, It,  and Snowpiercer.

The deal combines Wattpad’s 90 million users and Webtoon’s 72+ million active users.

As a result:

“We are the leading social story-telling company,” said Lau. And it’s possible because of a “combination [that occurred] in one stroke overnight,” said Lau.

Furthermore, this deal is viewed as a good way for Wattpad to get into animation.

And what does that mean?

Wattpad should be able to accelerate any plans to turn stories on its platform into comic books or animation, explained The Hollywood Reporter.

After acquiring Wattpad

As it stands, Wattpad’s headquarters is supposed to remain in Canada, and Lau along with co-founder Ivan Yuen will continue to run the company after its sale.

The Naver-Wattpad deal is still subject to regulatory approvals, but it’s expected to close in the second quarter of 2021.

Do you have any concerns about Wattpad being sold? Do you think it’s a good thing? Drop your thoughts in the comments.

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