Line app operator announces buyback, SoftBank, Naver voting rights to fall

TOKYO :Japan’s LY Corp, operator of the Line messaging app, announced a share buyback on Friday that will lower the voting rights of heavyweight joint stakeholders SoftBank Corp and South Korea’s Naver.
The capital relationship of the three Asian tech giants has developed into a political debate in South Korea and Japan this year.
The Japanese government has called for a selldown of Naver’s indirect equity holdings in LY after a data leak issue. It holds a stake through SoftBank-Naver venture “A Holdings” which currently owns 64.42 per cent of LY.
A Holdings’ voting rights will fall to as low as 62.50 per cent when LY’s 150 billion yen ($1.01 billion) buyback program completes, LY said.
LY will launch a tender offer for its own shares at 388 yen per share, a premium of roughly 11 per cent to Friday’s closing price, between Aug. 5 and Sept. 2, it said in a disclosure to the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
   LY is carrying out the buyback to increase the liquidity of its shares to levels mandated by the bourse for companies listed on its Prime Market, an LY spokesperson said.
Naver referred to LY’s disclosure when asked for comment. SoftBank did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
($1 = 148.7500 yen)