Naver to Repurchase and Cancel Additional 400 Billion KRW of Treasury Shares... Special Shareholder Return Program Underway

Naver announced on the 30th that it will invest approximately 400 billion KRW by the end of this year to repurchase and retire shares equivalent to 1.5% of its issued shares in the market as part of a special shareholder return program.

Naver stated that this special shareholder return program is an additional execution separate from the currently ongoing shareholder return policy. Previously, in May last year, Naver announced that it would pay out 15-30% of the average consolidated free cash flow (FCF) over the past two years entirely in cash dividends. Additionally, separately from this, it also planned to specially retire 3% out of the 8% treasury shares currently held, by retiring 1% annually over the next three years.

This program will be carried out using the special dividends from A Holdings, the largest shareholder of Line Yahoo, in which Naver holds a 50% stake. A Holdings has been participating in a tender offer for treasury shares since last month to meet the revised Tokyo Stock Exchange First Section listing maintenance requirement, effective next year, which mandates that at least 35% of shares must be publicly traded. The plan is to fulfill the 35% free float rule by purchasing and then retiring treasury shares.

As a result, A Holdings’ shareholding ratio slightly changed from 63.56% to 62.50%. However, as the largest shareholder of Line Yahoo, its control remains unchanged, and the shareholding ratios of Naver and SoftBank in A Holdings also remain the same, so there is no change other than the slight fluctuation in shareholding ratio. Naver plans to allocate half of approximately 800 billion KRW, which corresponds to the special dividends from this sale and regular dividends from Line Yahoo, to the special shareholder return program.

Naver explained, "From December 2nd to December 28th, we plan to repurchase about 2,347,500 shares, approximately 1.5% of the total issued shares, and retire all of them on December 31st. In addition to the dividend-focused shareholder return method over the past three years, especially at this time when the stock price has significantly declined this year, the board of directors decided to acquire and retire treasury shares to further enhance shareholder value."

Meanwhile, Naver will actively reinvest profits into core business areas to maintain a sound financial condition and improve growth potential. Furthermore, it plans to continue devising new return programs to further enhance shareholder value, aligning with various policy trends and movements increasingly emphasized in domestic and international capital markets.