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By Nam Hyun-woo
Studio Dragon, a TV drama producer that will make its KOSDAQ debut this month, said Thursday it will expand its domestic market share to 40 percent by 2020. It also aims to increase its overseas sales by 30 percent a year.
At a press conference ahead of its initial public offering (IPO), Studio Dragon CEO Jinnie Choi said the firm's rich library of dramas and quality lineup of writers and directors will help it rise as a global player in drama production.
"The listing on the KOSDAQ market will become a turning point for Studio Dragon's further growth," Choi said during the press conference on Yeouido, Seoul. "The company will channel its IPO resources for investments for securing talented human resources, merger and acquisition deals and production of global-scale dramas."
Studio Dragon is a CJ E&M affiliated company that has produced hit dramas including "Guardian: The Lonely and Great God," "Misaeng" and "Signal."
According to Choi, the firm's most valuable asset is its 133 directors and writers who have created its hit dramas. They include Kim Eun-sook, who wrote "Lovers in Paris," "Secret Garden" and "Descendants of the Sun," and Kim Won-seok, the director of "Misaeng" and "Signal."
Studio Dragon said it creates 20 to 25 percent of drama titles in the Korean market. Unlike its peers, the firm owns the intellectual property of its creations, helping it reap profits from overseas sales and remakes of its dramas.
This led the firm to log 137.4 billion won ($123.2 million) in sales and 22.9 billion won in operating profit in the first half. This was 1.4 times its sales in 2015, when the firm was still a division of CJ E&M.
"Those numbers will likely grow because they do not include profits from the Chinese market, which has been closed in the past year and is expected to reopen in the near future," Studio Dragon CFO Jang Se-jung said.
The Chinese market has been practically off-limits for Korean drama makers amid the diplomatic row between the two countries after the deployment of a U.S. missile shield here. But the tension is expected to ease now that the two sides have agreed to mend ties.
Through the IPO, the drama producer will diversify its broadcasting platform and enhance its influence in the domestic drama market, raising its market share to 40 percent.
For global growth, the firm is now in negotiations with Netflix, Amazon.com, Warner Bros. and other foreign firms over drama distribution and production.
"Along with distribution, we are in talks with Netflix over producing an original drama series," Choi said. "We expect we can give you more details next year."
The company will debut on the KOSDAQ on Nov. 24, with a price somewhere between 30,900 won and 35,000 won. According to its IPO lead managers, the IPO is expected to draw up to 210 billion won for the firm.
