Z Holdings, the Japan-based internet company formerly known as Yahoo Japan, is set to merge with South Korea-headquartered messaging platform Line Corporation, with their corporate venturing units to potentially do the same.
Yahoo Japan was formed as a joint venture by US-headquartered internet company Yahoo and Japan-based telecommunications firm SoftBank in 1996 but is now controlled by the latter, which paid $4.3bn to acquire the remaining shares held by Yahoo in September 2018.
The since renamed company, which is still publicly listed on Tokyo Stock Exchange, oversees YJ Capital, a corporate venturing vehicle formed in 2012 with notable exits including printing service Raksul, language learning service Rarejob and news curator Uzabase.
Internet company Naver spun off Line in 2016 through a $1.14bn initial public offering in the US and retains a 72.6% stake. Line had already established its Line Ventures subsidiary two years before, later adding a $100m gaming fund, the $42m Line Life Global Gateway and $20m Thailand fund ScaleUp.
SoftBank and Naver have signed a memorandum of understanding to merge the companies under a 50/50 joint venture called ZDH which would oversee the new business, which Reuters estimates would be valued at $30bn.
The corporates aim to come to a definitive agreement next month, with completion of the merger slated for October 2020.
