NCsoft Corporation to Sell Entire Shares of NC Interactive Inc.

[Epelesker]

Massively got the tip published. I did give credit to the OP here in my submission, but it didn't go through in the article.

In any case, the word is out there.

[Hyperstrike]

I just woke up to this, I had no idea.

And I have no clue. 

Larry suggests:

The thing is, there is a legal concept of "successor of interest".

[Hyperstrike]

I'm fumbling blindly here--

Could this be a way to shed all of their NCSoft Interactive employees without providing a severance package?

Not sure.  Maybe.

What I'm seeing in this.

They're selling it for 73 million.

They're investing the new company with 50 million.

Okay.  What do we call that other 23 million?

[Hyperstrike]

What kind of evil company would do that?

From first-hand experience?

http://www.luhs.org/

[Hyperstrike]

My brother in law works for a company that does that. They own three separate chains of grocery stores, and every few years they close down the store he works at, and reopen it the next day under one of the other chains. All the employees get let go from the old company and immediately hired to the new one... losing any accrued payraises and seniority benefits in the process. Combine that with tax savings, the ability to rewrite contracts if they feel like it, and an excuse to get rid of any employees they don't like without needing a valid reason to fire them, and the company really cleans up when they do this kind of stuff.

I could say more, but every word I want to use would just get changed to "pancake".

Yeah.  That's a lawsuit waiting to happen.

[JWBullfrog]

Okay.  What do we call that other 23 million?

A nice, tidy sum to retire on? Reinforcement for several golden parachutes? Sounds to me like somebody is getting ready to bail.

[TimtheEnchanter]

23-million-dollar Force Field Generator for protection against bad PR from CoH gamers.

[skolia]

Not sure what this means for us:

"NCsoft Corporation announced that it will sell its entire 809 million shares of NC Interactive Inc., which is mainly engaged in the online game service, for KRW 78,348,368,000, on December 24, 2012, for newly establishing company."

http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/036570.KS/key-developments/article/2658283

Also, "NCsoft Corporation announced that it will establish a new wholly owned subsidiary in the United States to establish an entity which can be in charge of the United States and Europe businesses. The new entity, to be capitalized at KRW 50,500 million, will be mainly engaged in the management of the United States and Europe subsidiaries. The expected transaction settlement date is December 24, 2012. "

http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/036570.KS/key-developments/article/2658297

Do they just blindfold themselves and throw darts at a board to make decisions or what?

So they're raising capital and establishing a new subsidiary to manage US(/NA?) and Europe subisidaries (of which they have.. 2? now) - why are they doing this when they already have a subsidiary that does this?  (NCsoft West)

Brain. Hurts.

[Kistulot]

This is why sometimes you just wait for all of the SSA to be released before you play, waiting for the payoff is...

What?

Right. Reality. Got it.

[dwturducken]

A nice, tidy sum to retire on? Reinforcement for several golden parachutes? Sounds to me like somebody is getting ready to bail.

Maybe one silver parachute. 23 million is not a lot if you look at what some other companies are giving to their execs.

[CapaDevans]

They're probably giving money to competent execs who have half a clue as to their customer demographic, share-holders preferences and an ability to communicate plus make decisions which don't seem to be made by a three year old having a tantrum.

[TonyV]

in the long scale system, a thousand million is a 'milliard', which was later extended by construction of a 'billiard' being a thousand billion and a 'trilliard' being a thousand trillion.

As an interesting historical side note, this is how a billiard table got its name.  When the game was first conceived, it was supposed to be played with 1,000,000,000,000,000 balls.  After several years of emptying out quarries and spending vast sums of money and resources in preparation for the first game, the rule was rethought and didn't make it all the way to the final draft of the rules.  But by that time, of course, the name stuck.

[Electric-Knight]

This is why sometimes you just wait for all of the SSA to be released before you play, waiting for the payoff is...

What?

Right. Reality. Got it.

Tradepaperback, please!

[Electric-Knight]

As an interesting historical side note, this is how a billiard table got its name.  When the game was first conceived, it was supposed to be played with 1,000,000,000,000,000 balls.  After several years of emptying out quarries and spending vast sums of money and resources in preparation for the first game, the rule was rethought and didn't make it all the way to the final draft of the rules.  But by that time, of course, the name stuck.

Tony, you really like my facepalm image, don't you...

[Atlantea]

As an interesting historical side note, this is how a billiard table got its name.  When the game was first conceived, it was supposed to be played with 1,000,000,000,000,000 balls.  After several years of emptying out quarries and spending vast sums of money and resources in preparation for the first game, the rule was rethought and didn't make it all the way to the final draft of the rules.  But by that time, of course, the name stuck.

"Are you suggesting that coconuts MIGRATE?"

[Celtic Lass]

"Are you suggesting that coconuts MIGRATE?"

"Not at all.  They could be carried."

[Triplash]

Yeah.  That's a lawsuit waiting to happen.

It's Canadian law we'd be talking here, so there might be differences that make it not-illegal. Or maybe he was exaggerating or misunderstanding the situation... either way, no-one sued over it that I know of. Maybe they just didn't realize they'd have a case.

[Samuel Tow]

You know... I though I was being creative when I was designing Santiago-Yuri, my evil corporate conglomerate for the Phoenix Project. As one of their chief illicit tactics, I cited blaming crimes on a subsidiary, gutting it, firing everybody then buying up the assets through another subsidiary as a means of dodging litigation.

It appears I need to try harder, huh?

[Kistulot]

Tradepaperback, please!

I love trade papers!

[Atlantea]

"Not at all.  They could be carried."

"What? A swallow carrying a coconut?"