SoftBank races to create ‘super app’ after Line merger

TOKYO — SoftBank Group is racing to create a “super app” in Japan after a delayed merger between its affiliate Z Holdings and popular messaging app Line.

The merger, which closed on Monday, creates a tech giant with more than 100 million users across messaging, online advertising and financial services. The original target of October 2020 was pushed back due to pandemic-related delays in the regulatory approval process.

Under the new structure, SoftBank unit SoftBank Corp. and South Korea’s Naver each own 50% of Line — now renamed A Holdings — which in turn owns 65.3% of Z Holdings. Z Holdings will remain listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and will own Line and Yahoo Japan, which runs a popular news site in Japan. It had a market capitalization of 5.06 trillion yen ($47.5 billion) as of Monday morning.

Observers are watching how the merged entity will streamline overlapping services…