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Japan: Yahoo and Line to merge

By  |  November 14, 2019

The operators of Yahoo sites in Japan and popular messaging app Line seek to merge into an internet group that spans finance, retail and other services, Nikkei reported.

SoftBank, which owns 45% of Yahoo Japan parent Z Holdings, and South Korea’s Naver, which owns 73% of Line, are in the final stage of negotiations, sources said. They aim to reach a basic agreement by the end of the month.

SoftBank, the mobile arm of SoftBank which controls Z Holdings, said in a statement on Thursday morning that it is “discussing various possibilities including [the merger]”.

The deal would create a mega-platform with more than 100 million users across financial services, e-commerce and more, reshaping Japan’s digital landscape and forming a bigger competitor to American and Chinese internet groups.