Yahoo Japan and Line aim for Southeast Asia dominance

Alliance to learn from Thai experience amid fierce global competition

Yahoo Japan and Line have decided to merge to compete with big global tech groups including Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple (© Illustration by Michael Tsang).

TAKAFUMI HOTTA, MASAAKI KUDO and YOSHINO SAKURAI, Nikkei staff writers

November 24, 2019 09:58 JST

TOKYO/SEOUL/BANGKOK -- SoftBank-backed Yahoo Japan and messaging app Line have agreed to merge amid a sense of crisis that the Japanese companies could not individually compete in the global internet sector and could even lose their home markets unless they develop a worldwide presence.