Kirkland Represents Naver on Acquisition of Wattpad

Kirkland & Ellis is advising Naver Corporation, a globally recognized technology company, on its acquisition of Wattpad, a global multi-platform entertainment company for original stories and leading social storytelling platform, in a cash and stock transaction valued at more than $600 million. Naver is one of Korea’s largest publicly listed companies and the home of WEBTOON™, a leading global digital comics platform. The acquisition will align Wattpad and WEBTOON™, two  leading comics, entertainment, and storytelling companies, with a combined global monthly audience of 160M people. The acquisition is expected to close during the first half of 2021 and is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

Read the Wattpad press release

The Kirkland team was led by transactional partners Edward Lee and Lukas David Richards and associate Peter Fritz, and included corporate associates Kaangrok Yoo and Brittany McKinley, technology & IP transactions partner Seth Traxler and associates Bernadette Coppola and Amy Barber, executive compensation partner Rohit Nafday and associate John Kleinjan, antitrust partners Ian John and Marin Boney, international trade partner Ivan Schlager and associate Michelle Weinbaum, and tax partners David Grenker and Adam Kool and associate Jake Jung.