KT made an official statement on the 16th that it does not meet shareholder values regarding the rec..

KT made an official statement on the 16th that it does not meet shareholder values regarding the recent merger of native OTT platform TVing and Wave.

Currently, SK Square, the largest shareholder of Wave, and CJ ENM, the largest shareholder of Tving, are seeking to merge between the two platforms by making a total of 250 billion won in joint investment in Wave. KT Studio Genie, a subsidiary of KT, is the second largest shareholder with a 13.5% stake in TVing.

Kim Chae-hee, head of KT’s media division, responded to a reporter’s question about the merger between TVing and Wave at a press conference for “KT Group Media Talk” held at Andaz Seoul Gangnam Hotel in Gangnam-gu, Seoul.

From KT’s point of view, the investment in TVing is not just a financial investment, but a strategic investment alliance made in consideration of strong business synergy across the media business, said Kim. “At that time, the will or value of business cooperation has been greatly damaged.” Wave has a low monopoly on terrestrial content, and in this situation, there is a question of whether the direction of growth to be pursued through merger meets Tving’s shareholder value, he stressed.

However, KT remained silent about the recent rumors of KT Studio Genie’s sale of its stake in TVing.

“We are already doing activities equivalent to the merger effect in certain aspects, such as reporting a business combination regardless of KT’s intention and going on the road on the premise of a merger,” said Kim, head of the division. “KT is officially in mutual communication with CJ.” He added, “The merger is an important issue, but regardless of this, we will focus more on the direction of the KT media business itself.”

In this regard, KT announced a detailed plan to reorganize KT’s media division into three pillars: AI platform, AI content, and business model innovation. The main point is to install AI agents on its Internet TV (IPTV) platform “Genie TV” and produce all of them by AI using short-form (short video) with high market demand as its main content.

In addition, KT plans to actively strengthen external cooperation, away from its platform-centered distribution structure.