LY Corporation
| Industry | Internet |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2023 |
| Headquarters | Japan , Japan |
Area served | Japan |
Key people | Takeshi Idezawa (CEO) |
| Products | Internet services, search engines, messaging applications, advertising, financial services |
| Owner | A Holdings (joint venture between SoftBank Group and Naver Corporation) |
| Parent | A Holdings |
, operating under the name LYC, is a Japanese internet enterprise owned by A Holdings, a collaborative venture between SoftBank Group of Japan and South Korea's Naver Corporation. Established in 2023, the company emerged from the consolidation of Z Holdings and four of its subsidiaries, including Line Corporation and Yahoo! Japan.
History
In March 2021, Z Holdings, which owns Yahoo! Japan, merged with Line Corporation aiming to cut expenses by integrating overlapping services such as QR code payment systems and to enhance user engagement across their approximately 200 platforms, focusing particularly on search engines, messaging applications, and advertising sectors. They intended to synchronize user IDs by the fiscal year 2022.
Soon after, it was disclosed that Line’s personal information was accessible from China without adequate notification to users, causing a postponement in ID integration as the group reassessed its data governance practices.
During the fourth quarter of fiscal 2022, ZHD experienced a 1.2% decline in advertising revenue, while growth in domestic e-commerce slowed to 0.9%, indicating diminishing market competitiveness. ZHD’s President Kentaro Kawabe voiced concerns regarding potential erosion of their market position.
In August 2022, ZHD revealed plans to connect user IDs across Line, Yahoo! Japan, and PayPay platforms to enhance cross-service traffic flow.
By February 2023, ZHD announced intentions to unify ZHD itself, Yahoo! Japan, and Line Corporation into a single corporate entity by the end of the fiscal year to facilitate faster decision-making and operational integration. The newly formed organization was named Line Yahoo (LY Corporation), with Takeshi Idezawa appointed as CEO. Idezawa highlighted the importance of operational efficiency amid challenging market dynamics.
In July 2023, ZHD merged its domestic financial services with those of Line—combining Line Securities and Line Credit into Z Financial, which also manages PayPay Bank and PayPay Securities.
In March 2023, Yahoo!, Line, and PayPay introduced LYP Mileage, a collaborative loyalty program that converts miles earned at partner retailers into PayPay points. Yahoo! President Takashi Ozawa described this initiative as highly anticipated.
On October 1, 2023, ZHD along with its subsidiaries—including Line Corporation, Yahoo! Japan, Z Entertainment, and Z Data—officially integrated to form LY Corporation.
Security
In October 2023, personal data belonging to approximately 520,000 LINE users was compromised. Following this incident, Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications issued administrative guidance to LY Corporation on two occasions by April 16, 2024, requesting a follow-up report by July 1, 2024. In March 2024, the Japanese government ordered LINE and Naver to separate their systems as a measure to address the data breach and improve information security protocols.
See also
References
External links
- Articles with short description
- 2023 mergers and acquisitions
- Internet in Japan
- Internet properties established in 2023
- Internet technology companies of Japan
- Japanese companies established in 2023
- Mass media companies established in 2023
- Naver Corporation
- SoftBank Group
- Symbols introduced in 2023
- Technology companies established in 2023
- Companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange
- Yahoo! international