SoftBank and Naver bid for Line shares gets lukewarm reception

Offer to buy out minority investors ends with less than half of shares tendered

SoftBank Group wants to merge its Z Holdings with Line, owned by South Korea's Naver. (Source photos by Wataru Ito and Manami Yamada)

WATARU SUZUKI, Nikkei staff writer

September 16, 2020 20:49 JST

TOKYO -- A tender offer by SoftBank Corp and South Korea's Naver for shares in popular messaging app Line has had a lukewarm reception, after a boom in tech stocks prompted calls from some minority shareholders for a higher offer.

SoftBank Corp, the Japanese telecommunications arm of SoftBank Group, teamed up with Naver last year to create a $30 billion internet giant by merging Naver-owned Line and SoftBank-owned Z Holdings. A joint tender offer to buy out Line minority shareholders was the first step in a complex merger that is expected to be completed next year.