{"id":103590,"date":"2025-05-13T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-13T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/mubadala-plans-to-invest-usd-400-mn-in-south-koreas-kakao-mobility-via-a-consortium\/"},"modified":"2025-05-13T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-05-13T00:00:00","slug":"mubadala-plans-to-invest-usd-400-mn-in-south-koreas-kakao-mobility-via-a-consortium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/13\/mubadala-plans-to-invest-usd-400-mn-in-south-koreas-kakao-mobility-via-a-consortium\/","title":{"rendered":"Mubadala plans to invest USD 400 mn in South Korea\u2019s Kakao Mobility via a consortium"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mubadala Investment Company plans<\/strong> to invest<\/strong> around USD 400 mn in South <\/strong>Korean mobility platform Kakao Mobility via a consortium<\/strong> led by Seoul-based private equity firm VIG Partners, investment banking sources told The Korea Economic Daily<\/a>. VIG is looking to acquire a 40-49% stake in Kakao Mobility, the country\u2019s largest taxi-hailing platform. Goldman Sachs is reportedly investing USD 300 mn through a separate vehicle.<\/p>\n

Including Goldman\u2019s investment, VIG plans to inject between some USD 1.4 bn into Kakao Mobility<\/strong>, with approximately USD 750 mn of that coming from acquisition financing. Korea Development Bank, Shinhan Bank, Woori Bank, and Kiwoom Securities are arranging the acquisition financing. The firm will also utilize its blind pool fund.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not clear whether Goldman Sachs and<\/strong> the VIG-led consortium<\/strong> are co-investing or if Goldman is gunning for a separate stake.<\/p>\n

Kakao Mobility\u2019 current stakeholders include: <\/strong>Kakao Corp., which holds a 57.2% stake, as well as TPG (29%), Carlyle Group (6.17%), LG Corp. (2.46%), and Google (1.52%).<\/p>\n

While VIG aims to close the investment by the end of May, hurdles remain. <\/strong>Key concerns include skepticism from investors about Kakao Mobility\u2019s valuation\u2014estimated at around KRW 6 tn (USD 4.3 bn)\u2014and difficulties securing exit agreement terms with shareholders. Kakao, the operator of KakaoTalk, rejected a management buyout proposal from VIG.<\/p>\n

Gulf sovereign wealth funds are showing increased interest in South Korean investments<\/strong>. The UAE committed USD 30 bn<\/a> in Korean investments via Mubadala and launched a UAE-Korea Sovereign Investment Partnership with Korea Development Bank. Over in Riyadh, SVC and PIF\u2019s Jada are backing a USD 160 mn startup fund<\/a> that aims to invest in both South Korean and Saudi startups.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Key concerns include skepticism from investors about Kakao Mobility\u2019s valuation and difficulties securing exit agreement terms with shareholders<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":103591,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_primary_brand":0,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1557],"tags":[315,25,27],"brand":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"class_list":["post-103590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-investment-watch","tag-goldman-sachs","tag-investment-watch","tag-mubadala-investment-company","wpautop","entry"],"acf":{"mongo_id":"074caee2-5fb0-48b8-82ff-cd416ce19df6","order":"11","is_powered_by":false,"story_type":"1","photo_url":"https:\/\/ent.news\/2025\/5\/826.jpg","photo_position":"above","homepage_title":"","full_issue_title":"Mubadala plans to invest USD 400 mn in South Korea\u2019s Kakao Mobility via a consortium","related_issue":[103570],"teaser":"Key concerns include skepticism from investors about Kakao Mobility\u2019s valuation and difficulties securing exit agreement terms with shareholders","voice_url":"https:\/\/s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/ent.news\/audio\/2025\/5\/.19271e7c-a0ec-49a9-852f-2f57664dd3a7.mp3"},"yoast_head":"\nMubadala plans to invest USD 400 mn in South Korea\u2019s Kakao Mobility via a consortium - UAE<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/13\/mubadala-plans-to-invest-usd-400-mn-in-south-koreas-kakao-mobility-via-a-consortium\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mubadala plans to invest USD 400 mn in South Korea\u2019s Kakao Mobility via a consortium\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Key concerns include skepticism from investors about Kakao Mobility\u2019s valuation and difficulties securing exit agreement terms with shareholders\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/13\/mubadala-plans-to-invest-usd-400-mn-in-south-koreas-kakao-mobility-via-a-consortium\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"UAE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-13T00:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2025\/5\/826.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"enterpriseam admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"enterpriseam admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/13\/mubadala-plans-to-invest-usd-400-mn-in-south-koreas-kakao-mobility-via-a-consortium\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/13\/mubadala-plans-to-invest-usd-400-mn-in-south-koreas-kakao-mobility-via-a-consortium\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"enterpriseam admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#\/schema\/person\/ca597032db7e4db868359c123cec256d\"},\"headline\":\"Mubadala plans to invest USD 400 mn in South Korea\u2019s Kakao Mobility via a consortium\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-13T00:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/13\/mubadala-plans-to-invest-usd-400-mn-in-south-koreas-kakao-mobility-via-a-consortium\/\"},\"wordCount\":281,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/13\/mubadala-plans-to-invest-usd-400-mn-in-south-koreas-kakao-mobility-via-a-consortium\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2025\/5\/826.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1\",\"keywords\":[\"Goldman Sachs\",\"INVESTMENT WATCH\",\"Mubadala Investment Company\"],\"articleSection\":[\"INVESTMENT WATCH\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/13\/mubadala-plans-to-invest-usd-400-mn-in-south-koreas-kakao-mobility-via-a-consortium\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/13\/mubadala-plans-to-invest-usd-400-mn-in-south-koreas-kakao-mobility-via-a-consortium\/\",\"name\":\"Mubadala plans to invest USD 400 mn in South Korea\u2019s Kakao Mobility via a consortium - UAE\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/13\/mubadala-plans-to-invest-usd-400-mn-in-south-koreas-kakao-mobility-via-a-consortium\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/13\/mubadala-plans-to-invest-usd-400-mn-in-south-koreas-kakao-mobility-via-a-consortium\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2025\/5\/826.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-13T00:00:00+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/13\/mubadala-plans-to-invest-usd-400-mn-in-south-koreas-kakao-mobility-via-a-consortium\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/13\/mubadala-plans-to-invest-usd-400-mn-in-south-koreas-kakao-mobility-via-a-consortium\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/13\/mubadala-plans-to-invest-usd-400-mn-in-south-koreas-kakao-mobility-via-a-consortium\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2025\/5\/826.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2025\/5\/826.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/13\/mubadala-plans-to-invest-usd-400-mn-in-south-koreas-kakao-mobility-via-a-consortium\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Mubadala plans to invest USD 400 mn in South Korea\u2019s Kakao Mobility via a consortium\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/\",\"name\":\"UAE\",\"description\":\"The State of the Nation\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#organization\",\"name\":\"UAE\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ent.news\/internal\/42998.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/ent.news\/internal\/42998.svg\",\"caption\":\"UAE\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#\/schema\/person\/ca597032db7e4db868359c123cec256d\",\"name\":\"enterpriseam admin\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/enterpriseam.testing.projectsarea.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/author\/enterpriseam\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Mubadala plans to invest USD 400 mn in South Korea\u2019s Kakao Mobility via a consortium - UAE","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/13\/mubadala-plans-to-invest-usd-400-mn-in-south-koreas-kakao-mobility-via-a-consortium\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Mubadala plans to invest USD 400 mn in South Korea\u2019s Kakao Mobility via a consortium","og_description":"Key concerns include skepticism from investors about Kakao Mobility\u2019s valuation and difficulties securing exit agreement terms with shareholders","og_url":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/13\/mubadala-plans-to-invest-usd-400-mn-in-south-koreas-kakao-mobility-via-a-consortium\/","og_site_name":"UAE","article_published_time":"2025-05-13T00:00:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2025\/5\/826.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"enterpriseam admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"enterpriseam admin","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/13\/mubadala-plans-to-invest-usd-400-mn-in-south-koreas-kakao-mobility-via-a-consortium\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/13\/mubadala-plans-to-invest-usd-400-mn-in-south-koreas-kakao-mobility-via-a-consortium\/"},"author":{"name":"enterpriseam admin","@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#\/schema\/person\/ca597032db7e4db868359c123cec256d"},"headline":"Mubadala plans to invest USD 400 mn in South Korea\u2019s Kakao Mobility via a consortium","datePublished":"2025-05-13T00:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/13\/mubadala-plans-to-invest-usd-400-mn-in-south-koreas-kakao-mobility-via-a-consortium\/"},"wordCount":281,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/13\/mubadala-plans-to-invest-usd-400-mn-in-south-koreas-kakao-mobility-via-a-consortium\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2025\/5\/826.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1","keywords":["Goldman Sachs","INVESTMENT WATCH","Mubadala Investment Company"],"articleSection":["INVESTMENT WATCH"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/13\/mubadala-plans-to-invest-usd-400-mn-in-south-koreas-kakao-mobility-via-a-consortium\/","url":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/13\/mubadala-plans-to-invest-usd-400-mn-in-south-koreas-kakao-mobility-via-a-consortium\/","name":"Mubadala plans to invest USD 400 mn in South Korea\u2019s Kakao Mobility via a consortium - UAE","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/13\/mubadala-plans-to-invest-usd-400-mn-in-south-koreas-kakao-mobility-via-a-consortium\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/13\/mubadala-plans-to-invest-usd-400-mn-in-south-koreas-kakao-mobility-via-a-consortium\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2025\/5\/826.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1","datePublished":"2025-05-13T00:00:00+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/13\/mubadala-plans-to-invest-usd-400-mn-in-south-koreas-kakao-mobility-via-a-consortium\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/13\/mubadala-plans-to-invest-usd-400-mn-in-south-koreas-kakao-mobility-via-a-consortium\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/13\/mubadala-plans-to-invest-usd-400-mn-in-south-koreas-kakao-mobility-via-a-consortium\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2025\/5\/826.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2025\/5\/826.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2025\/05\/13\/mubadala-plans-to-invest-usd-400-mn-in-south-koreas-kakao-mobility-via-a-consortium\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Mubadala plans to invest USD 400 mn in South Korea\u2019s Kakao Mobility via a consortium"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#website","url":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/","name":"UAE","description":"The State of the Nation","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#organization","name":"UAE","url":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/ent.news\/internal\/42998.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ent.news\/internal\/42998.svg","caption":"UAE"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#\/schema\/person\/ca597032db7e4db868359c123cec256d","name":"enterpriseam admin","sameAs":["http:\/\/enterpriseam.testing.projectsarea.com"],"url":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/author\/enterpriseam\/"}]}},"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2025\/5\/826.jpg?resize=600%2C400&ssl=1","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2025\/5\/826.jpg?resize=600%2C600&ssl=1","author_info":{"display_name":"enterpriseam admin","author_link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/author\/enterpriseam\/"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2025\/5\/826.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103590","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103590"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103590\/revisions"}],"acf:post":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue\/103570"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103591"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103590"},{"taxonomy":"brand","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/brand?post=103590"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=103590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}