Webtoon Entertainment saw its stock price soar on Tuesday on news it has expanded a partnership with Walt Disney, which in turn has acquired a 2 percent stake in the media company behind the mainstream embrace of webcomics.
As the digital comics company makes inroads in Hollywood, Webtoon and Disney will build and operate a new digital comics platform to bring 35,000 comics from Marvel, Star Wars, Disney, Pixar and 20th Century Studios under one service. And Disney+ subscribers will have access to a selection of content from the new platform.
As part of the deal, Walt Disney has agreed to acquire a 2 percent stake in Webtoon Entertainment for an unspecified price. Unveiling the agreement to develop the digital comic platform and the proposed share stake purchase led shares of Webtoon to soar by $5.57, or just over 37 percent, to $20.62 in mid-day trading on the NASDAQ Exchange.
Webtoon, which has around 155 million monthly active users, and Disney previously struck a multi-year partnership that features about 100 reformatted classics and all-new original series.
“By uniting our unparalleled collection of comics across Marvel, Star Wars, Disney, Pixar and 20th Century Studios into a single digital platform, we’re giving fans unprecedented access to the adventures they love — all in one place,” Josh D’Amaro, chairman of Disney Experiences, said in a statement.
With a ticker symbol of WBTN, Webtoon, backed by South Korean tech titan Naver, produces content that comes out in installments or “episodes.” Digital comics are embraced in Asia and very popular in North America. But comics are still considered the domain of traditional floppy books dominated by DC and Marvel.
Webtoon is changing that market by focusing on the teenage demo, non-superhero genres, and by making it easy for anyone to create content. Among its popular titles are Lore Olympus and Tower of God.
“With a new platform that will combine our product and technical expertise with Disney’s full comic catalog, we’re giving new and longtime fans all over the world a new way to discover these legendary characters and stories,” said Junkoo Kim, Webtoon founder and CEO. “Disney’s extraordinary storytelling legacy is second to none, and we’re honored to work with them to build the future of digital comics. This is a powerful next step for our growing global business and a strong foundation for even greater collaboration with Disney in the years ahead.”