Kakao Games said in a filing on Tuesday it will carry out its first shareholder return measures since listing, including cancelling treasury shares, introducing a restricted stock unit (RSU) plan and cutting paid-in capital.

The shareholder return measures are the first capital policy to be implemented since Line Yahoo’s change of largest shareholder and a management overhaul to a two-man leadership structure under co-CEOs Tae-hwan Kim (김태환) and Si-woo Lee (이시우). It is part of a long-term plan to strengthen corporate growth and shareholder value over the medium to long term, rather than a one-off step.

According to the company’s fair disclosure, Kakao Games holds 854,009 common shares as treasury stock. It will immediately cancel 500,000 shares, about 60 percent of the total, worth about 29.9 billion won on July 15. It will cancel treasury shares acquired within the limit of distributable profits, reducing the number of shares outstanding without changing paid-in capital, which it said helps maintain a stable financial structure while raising the real value of shareholders’ equity stakes.

It will use all remaining treasury shares, 354,009 shares, as funding for an RSU programme for employees. The RSU plan is a long-term performance compensation scheme that delivers the company’s own treasury shares directly, rather than issuing new shares.

Shares will be granted only to eligible recipients who meet performance conditions linked to medium- to long-term business performance and shareholder value. If vesting conditions are not met, the treasury shares will not be delivered and will be extinguished. Specific details such as recipients, amounts and vesting periods will be finalised by a board resolution after approval at an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders.

Kakao Games also plans to submit an agenda item to an extraordinary shareholders meeting to reduce capital reserves and transfer the amount to retained earnings. It is a clean-up of capital accounts that does not involve cash outflows, aimed at laying a legal foundation to continue medium- to long-term shareholder return policies such as dividends or share buybacks, taking into account business performance and the management environment.

At an extraordinary shareholders meeting in June, Chief Financial Officer Kwon-ho Shin (신권호) said the company would make decisions with boosting shareholder value as the top priority in management activities, adding that it was reviewing various measures including the use and cancellation of treasury shares. The latest policy is the first case of turning that management stance into concrete capital policy.

Kakao Games also plans to strengthen momentum for an earnings rebound by pushing into the global game market in the second half with new titles across a range of genres. Its new lineup includes the 2.5D massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) "Dokkaebi’s World", the MMORPG "OdinQ: Valkyrie Call", the open-world zombie survival simulator "God Save Birmingham" and the online action role-playing game (RPG) "ArcheAge Chronicles".

A Kakao Games official said the company would manage the business in a way that can raise satisfaction for all stakeholders, including users, shareholders, employees and partners, under the new management structure. The official said it will provide differentiated enjoyment to users at home and abroad through new games across multiple genres, and roll out medium- to long-term shareholder return measures while pursuing corporate growth and shareholder value in balance.