South Korea’s Naver said on Friday it will consider its stance on a potential ceding of control in LY Corp from a mid-to-long term business point of view.
Naver CEO Choi Sooyeon addressed in an earnings call on Friday an administrative guidance by the Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications that called for a selldown of Naver’s indirect equity holdings in LY Corp over a data leak last year.
LY Corp is majority owned by A Holdings, a joint venture between Japan’s SoftBank and Naver, and operates Line, a messaging app popular in Japan and elsewhere in Asia.
“The administrative guidance itself that required a reduction in capital control is very unusual, but we are not deciding whether to follow it or not – we define it as a matter to be decided based on mid- to long-term business strategy, and we are conducting an internal review,” Choi said.
Naver has yet to decide on a position, Choi added.
Japan’s internal affairs and communications ministry did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment on Friday, a holiday in the country.
Choi said although there was no close business cooperation in particular between LY Corp and Naver so far, the Japanese government’s administrative guidance required some infrastructure that Naver had provided to LY Corp to be separated, which should affect that portion of Naver’s revenue in future.
Reuters
