Yahoo! Japan Corp., a Japanese internet firm, has recently cleared the fog on its merger with trending messaging app Line. According to reports, the merger would see the formation of a new internet group that would cover retail, finance and various other services.

Moreover, SoftBank Group, which holds 45% of Z Holdings (parent of Yahoo! Japan), and online platform Naver, which owns 73% of Line, are in the final stage of negotiations and plan to meet a basic agreement by the end of November 2019.

In a statement, SoftBank Corp. said that they are exploring all the options which also includes the option of a merger. Whereas reports suggest that the completion of this deal would develop a new mega-platform that would have over 100 million users across all the sectors such as e-commerce, financial services and more.

It is anticipated that the move would reshape Japan's digital space while developing a serious competitor to Chinese and American internet groups.

Reportedly, there was also a proposal for Naver and SoftBank to form a new 50-50 venture, making them the top stakeholder of Z Holdings. The new 50-50 venture would make Line and Yahoo separate wholly-owned subsidiaries of Z Holdings.

Prior to this news, Yahoo Japan revealed that it will be selling access to data that record the online habits of its customers. This move follows the recent trends of firms granting government organizations and other firms access to their user’s online habits and behaviors.

Explaining on the idea, Yahoo said that its clients could type in keywords on a dedicated website to see the metrics of those users who have searched for it. These metrics would include details about the user’s location and gender.

Kentaro Kawabe, President and CEO, Yahoo Japan, meanwhile assured everyone that safeguarding user’s privacy is still its top priority and the service wouldn’t reveal any sensitive information which could be used to identify people.

Source Credit: https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Business-deals/Yahoo-Japan-to-merge-with-Naver-s-Line-app

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20191106_18/