Launch of merged Teabing-Season corporation in December… Fair Trade Commission approves business combination

The merger between Teabing and Season’s online video service (OTT) will launch on December 1 as planned.

On the 31st, the Fair Trade Commission approved the merger of CJ ENM’s subsidiary Teabing with KT OTT’s affiliate term KT. It was decided that the merger between the two companies would not restrict competition in related markets such as the competing OTT market and the different content markets supplied to OTT.

The Fair Trade Commission evaluated that the merger between Teabing and Season will be able to deliver high quality content more effectively, make bold investments in content production, and contribute to the increase in the welfare of OTT subscribers.

In addition, it is anticipated that more fierce competition will take place between the merged corporation and the main operators in the domestic OTT market such as Netflix and Wave, thereby strengthening the competitiveness of the K-OTT industry.

Teabing will complete the merger with the term on 1 December in accordance with the Fair Trading Commission’s approval of the merger and begin providing integrated services. The combined rate plan, seasonal original content supply and demand scale, and cyber money compensation plan owned by seasonal customers will be determined by negotiation between the two companies. It is known that a third of KT Season’s employees have decided to join Teabing.

The combined corporation is expected to consolidate its position in the domestic market with its strong content power and seriously advance into the global market. Since the launch of Teabing’s independence, more than 40 original content has been produced regardless of genre, such as dramas, films and entertainment shows. Teabing has formalized its plans to enter the Japanese and Taiwanese markets in partnership with Line, and is also collaborating with global OTT Paramount Plus, including joint investment and content production.

Strong studio ties to support original content are also a key competitive edge for the merged corporation. CJ ENM’s domestic and foreign studio subsidiaries such as Studio Dragon, CJ ENM Studios, and Fifth Season, and media and content management tower KT Group, which planned the drama ‘Strange Lawyer Woo Young-Woo’, supported the planning, the investment and the production. of four studios including KT Studio Genie

After the merger, it is expected to expand subscribers by partnering with KT’s telecom and pay TV services. KT has 18 million telecom subscribers and 13 million pay TV subscribers, including IPTV ‘Genie TV’, satellite broadcasting ‘Skylife’, and cable TV ‘HCN’.

The ratio of the merger between the two companies is 1.5737519 Teabing to 1 Katy Season. KT Studio Genie, the parent company of KT Season, is Teabing’s third largest shareholder. Currently, Teabing’s main shareholders include CJ ENM, SLL, and Naver.

“The two companies are discussing future management plans ahead of the merger on December 1,” said a Teabing official.

Reporter Park Jong-jin truth@etnews.com, Reporter Choi Da-hyeon da2109@etnews.com