Shinsegae Property said on Monday it will invest $1 billion in the acquisition of Warner Bros in the United States. The amount is about 1.4 trillion won. It will join as an investor in Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Shinsegae Property is Shinsegae Group’s real estate development company. It is run under a co-CEO system by Shinsegae Group Chairman Chung Yong-jin (정용진) and CEO Lee Hyung-chun (이형천).

Shinsegae Group plans to use Hollywood content as a new growth engine through the investment. The company said the decision is intended to broaden its business portfolio into global content. Taking into account that both retail and entertainment have many customer touchpoints, it plans to combine the two to shift into a global platform that merges retail and culture, strengthen its core competitiveness and offer new customer experiences. It also presented a vision of establishing itself as Asia’s leading content hub.

It will use the two companies’ intellectual property at offline sites. The company explained that a theme park planned for "Hwaseong Star Bay City" can use Paramount’s "Mission: Impossible", "Star Trek" and "Top Gun", as well as Warner Bros’ "Harry Potter" and "Game of Thrones", which it said could boost competitiveness. It also plans to install IP-based experiential facilities and themed spaces at large and mid-sized indoor shopping mall complexes including Starfield, Starfield Market and Starfield Village.

Cooperation in the over-the-top streaming sector was also mentioned. Shinsegae Group said it expects it can work with HBO Max and Paramount Plus. One option is to link the two services to memberships across its online and offline affiliates, including E-Mart. If the linkage is realized, the company said customer benefits would increase and it could also expect a "lock-in" effect that keeps existing customers.

Over the long term, it will also move into content production. Shinsegae Group is considering a plan to enter the Asian content market by jointly producing content with Paramount Skydance Group after it completes its acquisition of Warner Bros. Subscribers to HBO Max and Paramount Plus exceed 200 million. The company said it expects that if business expands on the two platforms through co-production or partnerships on Korean original content, it would also contribute to broadening the base of "K-culture".

A Shinsegae Group official said, "This investment will be a stepping stone for Shinsegae Group to diversify into a new business area that combines entertainment, going beyond a simple equity investment," and added, "Through this investment, we will create momentum for Shinsegae Group to leap into a platform company in the Asian content market."