Accelerating Naver Global Advancement… Softbank joint venture company name’A Holdings’ confirmed

Input 2021.02.24 17:14

Final resolution through extraordinary shareholders’ meeting on the 24th
Joint representative system such as Hae Jin Lee Naver GIO
Expected to accelerate entry to Naver in the Japanese market
Speed ​​of global expansion, such as the acquisition of’Whatpad’ and collaboration with Big Hit

As part of the management integration between LINE and Yahoo Japan, the name of a joint venture between Naver and Softbank was confirmed as A Holdings (AHD). A Holdings will be led by Naver founder Lee Hae-jin, Global Investment Officer (GIO) and Miyauchi Ken Softbank’s chief executive officer (CEO) as co-CEOs.

On the 24th, Softbank announced that such a decision was finalized at the extraordinary general shareholders’ meeting held on the day. Softbank and Naver each own 50% of A Holdings. Then, Z Holdings is placed under A Holdings, and Z Holdings actually operates the line with Yahoo Japan.

When the management integration between Line and Yahoo Japan is completed in March, Naver’s original technology and platform entry into the Japanese market is expected to accelerate. Z Holdings, which owns LINE and Yahoo Japan, exceeds 100 million monthly users in Japan. Naver plans to introduce its own technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) to the Japanese market through collaboration with Z Holdings.

Naver seems to be accelerating its global advancement from the beginning of this year. On January 20th, Naver announced the acquisition of Wattpad, the world’s largest web novel platform. Naver webtoon with 72 million monthly active users and Watpad with 90 million meet to create the world’s largest storytelling ecosystem.

Naver has become a global leader in the storytelling content market. Wattpad is evaluated as having a solid readership in all regions of the world, mainly in North America. In particular, it is a strong point that 80% of users are occupied by Generation Z (generation born after 1995), which has strong content consumption power.

Naver is also advancing into the global market in cooperation with major domestic entertainment companies. On January 27th, a week after the news of the acquisition of Whatpad, it announced that it will create a new global fan community platform that integrates’V-Live’ and Weverse in cooperation with Big Hit Entertainment.

Prior to collaboration with Big Hit, it has also invested in YG Entertainment and SM Entertainment. Naver is emerging as a major player in the global entertainment market by adding the fandom of entertainment companies to its technology.

An industry insider said, “Naver is showing rapid movements such as closing large deals on the global stage recently.” .