Kakao Entertainment said on Thursday it will integrate three subsidiaries in its story division: Samyang C&C, Intime and Pilyeon Management.

Each company held a board meeting on Aug. 12 and approved the merger of the three firms. It plans to complete the merger procedures within the year. The deal is a merger among wholly owned subsidiaries in which Kakao Entertainment holds a 100 percent stake. The integrated entity will keep the existing name Samyang C&C. Samyang C&C CEO Cha Seong-taek (차성택) plans to lead the combined company.

Kakao Entertainment decided on the merger to combine the webtoon and web novel planning and production know-how held by each firm and to integrate the noble comics segment. It plans to secure intellectual property (IP) in genres such as romance, fantasy and martial arts and build a pipeline.

The three companies subject to the merger have been running a noble comics business as content providers, expanding web novels into webtoons. They are also pursuing businesses that expand into secondary creations, including work planning, production, publishing, merchandise, dramas and animation.

Samyang C&C's fantasy title "The Spirit King Elquines" is an example of a work expanded from a web novel into a webtoon. The title has recorded a combined cumulative 340 million views after being serialized on KakaoPage and Kakao Webtoon, and it has also been released on Japan's Piccoma operated by Kakao Piccoma.

A Kakao Entertainment official said, "Through the merger of the three companies, we will plan and discover IP to solidify the story business and continue building a global IP pipeline."