Naver Line Acquires 7.8 Trillion KRW in Z Holdings Shares... Final Stage of Yahoo Integration (Comprehensive)

[Asia Economy Reporter Bu Aeri] The integration between Naver's Japanese subsidiary Line and SoftBank's Yahoo is in its final stages.

On the 20th, Line announced that it will acquire 2,125,366,950 shares of SoftBank subsidiary Z Holdings for approximately 7.8458 trillion KRW. After the acquisition, the shareholding ratio will be 44.6%. The scheduled date for the stock acquisition is the 26th of next month.

Japan's "national messenger" Line and the largest portal Yahoo decided to merge their management in November 2019 and have been proceeding with the process since then.

Z Holdings serves as an intermediate holding company that owns 100% of Line and Yahoo as subsidiaries.

A holding company, A Holdings, a joint venture between Naver and SoftBank, holds 65% of Z Holdings' shares.

A Holdings is chaired by Lee Hae-jin, the Global Investment Officer (GIO) and founder of Naver, who serves as chairman of the board and co-CEO, while SoftBank's CEO Ken Miyauchi serves as co-CEO.

With this share acquisition, the main procedures are nearing completion. The final management integration is expected to take place in March.