RealNetworks has sold its remaining stake in Korean digital music distribution company LoEn Entertainment, netting $29.3 million in cash, according to a note in a regulatory filing from the Seattle company this week.
A spokesperson for RealNetworks said the company sold the stake to capitalize on a financial opportunity, but RealNetworks remains “a close partner” with LoEn. The company isn’t saying who purchased the stake. Affinity Equity Partners acquired majority ownership of LoEn Entertainment (originally known as Seoul Records) from SK Telecom.
RealNetworks, a long time partner of SK Telecom, originally bought 11 percent of LoEn in 2008, and sold a portion of its LoEn stake last year.
RealNetworks is trying to turn around its business under the leadership of founder Rob Glaser, who has returned as the company’s interim CEO. The company last week announced a new “ringback tone” app for smartphones, dubbed Listen, following the debut of the new RealPlayer Cloud video sharing service. RealNetworks is still in the red, but the company recently said it expects to return to revenue growth in 2014.
