TOKYO—Two of Japan’s internet leaders—news and shopping site Yahoo Japan and chat app Line—are in talks over a combination that could expand the empire of SoftBank Group Corp. , a person involved in the talks said.
The deal, if completed, could give SoftBank and its acquisitive Chief Executive Masayoshi Son a bigger presence in internet advertising and payment apps in Japan. SoftBank effectively controls Yahoo Japan through subsidiaries.
The person involved in the talks said SoftBank ultimately hoped to emerge with control of Line through the deal, but he said the sides were still discussing several deal structures.
A SoftBank spokesman and a Line spokeswoman said nothing has been decided about any potential combination.
Line says it has some 82 million monthly active users in Japan, its top market. Getting access to those users could help Yahoo Japan strengthen its shopping business, which competes against Amazon.com Inc.
Also, Yahoo and Line currently back rival smartphone payment platforms in Japan. A combination could help them expand in the crowded market.
Kyodo News and the Nikkei newspaper earlier reported plans for a combination. Nikkei said the sides were discussing a plan in which SoftBank and Line parent Naver Corp. would each own 50% of a holding company that would house Yahoo Japan and Line.
South Korea-based Naver controls Line with a 72.64% stake as of June 30. Line’s market capitalization as of Wednesday’s close was ¥1.1 trillion, or about $10 billion.
Line shares went public in July 2016 and soared on the first day, partly in anticipation of global expansion. Subsequently, the company has solidified its dominant position among chat apps in Japan and continued to do well in Taiwan and Thailand. But it has backed away from expansion outside of Asia.
As of March 31, two companies controlled by SoftBank Group held a cumulative 47.5% stake in Yahoo Japan parent Z Holdings Corp., according to the Z Holdings website. The market capitalization of Z Holdings as of Wednesday’s close was ¥1.85 trillion.
Yahoo Japan, which no longer has a capital connection to the Yahoo website in the U.S. owned by Verizon Communications Inc., is the leading internet source of news and information in Japan. To expand its e-commerce business, Yahoo Japan recently said it would take majority control of online fashion retailer Zozo Inc. in a $3.7 billion deal.
Copyright ©2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
"line" - Google News
November 13, 2019 at 08:07AM
https://ift.tt/33JYNmh
Yahoo Japan in Talks Over Combining With Chat App Line - The Wall Street Journal
"line" - Google News
https://ift.tt/33OHZdp
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update
No comments:
Post a Comment