Accommodation booking platform operator Yanolja announced Monday that it has appointed a new chief investment officer to lead the discovery of new growth engines.

The newly named CIO, Choi Chan-seok, is a seasoned expert in mergers and acquisitions and investor relations. While leading investment and M&A deals at mobile gaming firm Netmarble, he played a key role in acquiring water purifier rental firm Coway and US mobile game developer Kabam, and helped the game company to invest in both K-pop label Bit Hit Entertainment and the online-only Kakao Bank. He was also in charge of leading the initial public offering plans for the gaming company in 2017.

“Choi will be leading the IPO and other investment projects at Yanolja,” said an official from the accommodation booking firm. “The appointment is also aimed at beefing up the firm’s investment expertise as it expands its cloud business in global markets.”

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)