TOKYO -- Shares in Softbank's Yahoo Japan surged as investors cheered the prospect of its merger with messaging app Line, a $27 billion union that would create a giant payments, news portal and e-commerce platform with over 100 million users.
The deal, if it concludes, would reshape Japan's digital landscape and form a bigger competitor to U.S. and Chinese internet groups by creating a one-stop platform, or "super app," for a range of services entwined into every aspect of users' lives.
