Update: South Korean games publisher Nexon has been taken off the market and any potential deal of founder Jungju Kim selling his controlling share has been scrapped, according to Reuters.

Two sources have reportedly come forward to confirm that the sale, which reportedly could have totalled $16 billion, will no longer be going ahead.

“I am not picking a preferred bidder in light of market conditions and others,” said Kim in an email send to bidders via Morgan Stanley.

A contribution to the deal falling through was due to Tencent and other large tech companies ultimately not joining bidding for the controlling stake, with participation from Tencent seen as key to any deal.

Original Story: South Korean games firm Nexon is apparently no longer up for grabs.

That's according to a report from The Korea Economic Daily, which says that the mega corporation's sale has been cancelled due to a lack of bidders who could actually afford the Korean giant. The deadline for bids was pushed back twice to May 24th, too.

A 98.64 per cent stake in the company was put up for sale at the start of 2019 as founder Jungju Kim and his family looked to exit its holding company. This slice of Nexon is worth in the region of ₩10 trillion ($9bn).

Since this stake in the Korean games giant was put up for sale, Nexon has had a great deal of interest from companies including Chinese tech and entertainment behemoth Tencent, fellow Korean firms Kakao and NetMarble. There were also reports of US internet retailer Amazon, telecoms firm Comcast and publishing giant Electronic Arts entering the fray. 

CEO Kim reportedly approached The Walt Disney Company to bid but the house of mouse was seemingly not interested.

Additional reporting by Matthew Forde