Dplus KIA confirms one-month salary delay during sale

Dplus KIA confirmed player salary payments are one month overdue as the South Korean esports organisation carries out a sale and has retained an M&A adviser. The club attributed the shortfall to cash-flow disruption caused by delays finalising a new majority owner.

The delay affected all active competitive rosters, including its League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) team. The front office apologised to fans and commercial partners and said players and coaching staff were briefed before the matter became public and continued training without interruption.

The organisation is in deep negotiations with a primary prospective buyer while also opening talks with alternative qualified suitors. An experienced mergers-and-acquisitions adviser has been engaged to coordinate the transaction and administrative review.

Dplus KIA said it chose an asset sale to bring in a new majority owner to expand the club’s scale and international competitiveness.

Under LCK regulations, players may request immediate contract termination if salary payments are delayed for a full month. The club said it is prioritising a rapid resolution to avoid roster changes or disruptions to its league commitments.

The organisation reported a difficult 2025 financial year: revenue fell more than 25% to about $5.3 million and operating losses roughly doubled to about $2.3 million. The club linked those results to the current fragile cash position. Some rival Korean organisations reported profits in 2025.

Despite the restructuring, Dplus KIA maintained commercial activity in 2026, adding nutrition partner Nutri D-DAY, a player-support deal with AndaSeat and renewing a long-term sponsorship with Logitech G.

The club apologised for the disruption and pledged to mobilise available resources to normalise payroll. It did not provide a specific timetable for when delayed salaries would be paid and said negotiations with prospective owners are ongoing.

“The most important and absolutely non-negotiable value for our organisation is the ‘stable environment and activities of our players,'” the club wrote.