Kakao, the Korea-based company behind the Kakao Talk mobile messaging app, is merging with Daum, the country's second largest internet portal. The news is surprising, since Kakao_had been tipped to go public before 2015 at a valuation of over_$2 billion. The Yonhap News Agency reports that the merger_– which is a stock swap arrangement — will create a company worth three trillion Korean won ($2.9 billion) but there is no confirmed price at this point. The new entity will be the second largest company listed on the_KOSDAQ, according to the news agency.