Japanese internet and social games expert Serkan Toto points out this evening that Yahoo Japan (TYO:4689) just announced that it has picked up a 50 percent stake in Kakao Japan, previously owned in full by Korea-based Kakao Corporation. No financial terms were disclosed. Toto notes “There can be no question that this deal […] is providing Kakao Talk a fighting chance against Line.”
NHN Japan’s Line, of course, is a rival chat app to Kakao, and the two have a storied history.
For Yahoo Japan, which intends to focus more on a mobile strategy, there should be some opportunity for synergies here.
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