Z Holdings

Z Holdings Corporation (Zホールディングス株式会社) was a Japanese internet holding company owned by A Holdings a joint venture between SoftBank Group and Naver Corporation. It was founded in 2019 as a result of Yahoo! Japan Corporation's change to a holding company structure. In 2020, it merged with Line Corporation, a subsidiary of South Korean Naver Corporation, and became a subsidiary of A Holdings, a joint venture between SoftBank Group and Naver Corp. As a result, Line Corporation became a subsidiary of Z Holdings. In 2023, Z Holdings merged with four of its subsidiaries, including Yahoo! Japan and Line Corporation, to form LY Corporation.

Z Holdings Corporation
Native name
Zホールディングス株式会社
TypePublic
TYO: 4689
TOPIX 100 component
IndustryInternet and Telecommunications
FoundedOctober 1, 2019 (2019-10-01)
DefunctOctober 1, 2023 (2023-10-01)
FateMerged with four of its subsidiaries, including Yahoo! Japan and Line Corporation
SuccessorLY Corporation
Headquarters
Tokyo
,
Japan
Area served
Worldwide
ProductsYahoo! Japan, PayPay, Line
ServicesYahoo! Japan, Line App, Line Manga, Line Play, Line Taxi
OwnerA Holdings (63,9%)[1] (Softbank Group)
Subsidiaries
  • Yahoo Japan Corporation
  • Line Corporation
  • Zozo
  • Askul
  • ValueCommerce
  • PayPay (joint venture)
  • Z Financial
Websitewww.z-holdings.co.jp

History

Originally, the company was established as Yahoo Japan Corporation in January 1996, but on October 1, 2019, it changed to a holding company structure due to a company split and changed its corporate name.[2]

Due to the reorganization of the group centered on Yahoo Japan Corporation in 2019, the information and communication business division (Yahoo! JAPAN business) was absorbed and split into Yahoo Japan Corporation, and the financial enterprise management division Was split into Z Financial Co., Ltd. and transferred to a holding company, and is responsible for the management function of the entire group centered on subsidiaries from the time of the first corporation.

On November 2019 an announcement was made that a joint venture between Softbank Corp and Naver Corporation was agreed upon to merge the Z holdings corporation with Line Corporation.[3] Under which LINE, as well as various other assets of the Z Holdings Corporation, would be controlled by another holding company called A Holdings Corporation.[4] The A Holdings Corporation ownership was then split 50% between Naver and Softbank Corp.[5]

In March 2021 Line Corporation officially merged with Yahoo! Japan, which had been operated by Z Holdings.[6] Upon integrating the two businesses and creating further platforms, the merged company aims to compete with the U.S. tech giants Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Apple and the Chinese tech giants Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent,[7] as well as the Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten.[6] The merger also gives Z Holdings three additional Asian markets where Line is popular: Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia.[6]

Founded in 2021, LINE Bank is a commercial bank headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan, and owned by Z Holdings.[8][9][10]

In July 2022, SoftBank Corp and Z Holdings announced that they would consolidate PayPay, a smartphone payment service. SoftBank Group, the parent company of SoftBank Corp, had a 50% stake in PayPay and was a consolidated subsidiary. However, SoftBank Corp and Z Holdings jointly invested and established a new holding company called B Holdings. B Holdings became the parent company with a 57.9% stake in PayPay by converting PayPay's preferred shares to common shares, etc.[11]

On October 1, 2023, Z Holdings merged with its subsidiaries, Line, Yahoo!, Z Entertainment, and Z Data, to form LY Corporation, a joint venture between SoftBank Group and Naver Corp.[12]

References
  1. "Z HOLDINGS CORPORATION : Shareholders Board Members Managers and Company Profile | JP3933800009 | MarketScreener". www.marketscreener.com. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  2. "FAQ | Investor Relations | Z Holdings Corporation". www.z-holdings.co.jp. Retrieved 2022-07-28.
  3. sbn_13 (29 March 2021). "The New Z Holdings: Two Internet Giants in Asia Unite to Become a World-leading AI Tech Company". SoftBank News. Bringing IT closer to home. Retrieved 2022-07-28.
  4. "Notice Concerning Name Change and Structure of Strategic Holding Company After Business Integration of Z Holdings Corporation and LINE Corporation | About Us". SoftBank. Retrieved 2022-07-28.
  5. "NAVER: New Z Holdings Launch Positive for NAVER's Corporate Value". Businesskorea (in Korean). 2021-03-02. Retrieved 2022-07-28.
  6. "Yahoo Japan operator, Line merge to take on foreign tech giants". Kyodo News. 1 March 2021. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
  7. Masuda, Yoko (1 March 2021). "Yahoo Japan, Line integrate businesses to be major '3rd force'". The Asahi Shimbun. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
  8. "Line Bank to trial this week, launch by next month".
  9. "Internet-only LINE Bank Commences Trial Operations in Taiwan".
  10. "Japan's LINE Banks on Fintech in Taiwan".
  11. "ソフトバンクとZHD、PayPayを連結子会社化". Nikkei Breaking News Archive. July 27, 2022.
  12. "経営統合2年半、「LINEヤフー」発足 個人情報取り扱いを変更：朝日新聞デジタル". 朝日新聞デジタル (in Japanese). 2023-09-29. Retrieved 2023-09-30.
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