‘알짜 사업’ 떼어낸 카카오 인적분할…시장 반응은 왜 냉랭할까

Kakao is pursuing a 'restructuring' by separating its KakaoTalk-based AI, advertising, and e-commerce operations into a new company. This move aims to address the 'multifaceted business discount' issue and ensure that each company's business value is properly evaluated. However, initial market reactions to this proposed restructuring have been cold.

Unlike the newly established company, the existing one has uncertain growth prospects, which is why the company decided to split financially. The split ratio is based on the net asset value of Kakao, with KakaoAI receiving 0.36 and KakaoX getting 0.64. After the announcement, Kakao's stock closed at 35,800 won, down 7.49% from the previous trading day.

The reasoning behind Kakao expecting the business value of the two companies to increase through this restructuring is based on the potential value that investment firms have assessed and the disparity between the market capitalization. According to Kakao's research center, the combined potential value of Kakao is 34.2 trillion won, while the current market capitalization of Kakao stands at 16.8 trillion won, indicating that it is being 'undervalued' in the market.

The key challenge for KakaoX following the separation is ensuring its growth. With KakaoAI accounting for 45-58% of the group's operating profit in the last fiscal year, analysts have pointed out that KakaoX needs to find new core businesses or investments to boost its company value after the split. KakaoX has proposed future growth areas such as virtual assets (techni), global fandoms (content), and autonomous taxis & logistics (mobility).

However, if KakaoX fails to show the expected growth after the listing, the combined market capitalization of KakaoAI and KakaoX might not match the pre-split Kakao's stock, indicating a potential issue.