TOKYO -- The company that runs the popular-in-three-markets Line chat app is in the final stages of integration talks with the operator of the Yahoo Japan stable of internet services, a merger that could rearrange Asia's smartphone app battlefield.
It was in January when Line President Takeshi Idezawa declared that Line would go on a strategic investment offensive focusing on fintech and artificial intelligence. "We will double strategic investment," he said of the year ahead.
