South Korean tech giant Naver has announced that it will maintain its current ownership stake in LY Corp., the operator of Japan’s popular Line app and Yahoo Japan portal. This decision comes despite Japanese authorities pushing for a reassessment of Naver’s investment due to recent data leaks.
During Naver’s earnings call on Friday, CEO Choi Soo-yeon confirmed that the company has no plans to divest from LY Corp in the foreseeable future. Naver holds an indirect stake in LY Corp through A Holdings, a joint venture with Japan’s SoftBank Group, which owns a 64.4% majority stake in LY. Under Japanese law, SoftBank is considered the parent company of LY Corp.
Following data leaks in 2023, Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications advised LY to improve its security governance and reassess its capital ties with Naver. Although Naver initially indicated it would consider selling shares, the company has since decided to retain its stake, prioritizing enhanced security measures and business synergies.
In Q2, Naver reported an 8% increase in consolidated revenue to 2.61 trillion won ($1.91 billion) and a 27% rise in operating profit to 472.7 billion won. Growth was driven by its advertising and e-commerce divisions in South Korea and record-high webtoon subscriptions in Japan.
