TOKYO: Z Holdings Corp., the parent of Yahoo Japan Corp., and Line Corp. said on Tuesday that their planned business integration will be delayed.

The delay in the merger, initially scheduled to be completed in October, resulted from deferred procedures to review the deal in some countries due to the effects of the novel coronavirus pandemic, the two sides said.

In December last year, Z Holdings and Line announced their final agreement to merge their business operations.

The two sides are in a complementary relationship, as Yahoo runs an internet portal while Line is a free messaging app provider. They, however, offer similar services such as online shopping in some areas.

As the merger will expand their market share in the overlapping business areas, the deal must be approved by the Fair Trade Commission and other antitrust watchdogs around the world.

Z Holdings and Line said they do not immediately see any problems with the antitrust review procedures, which are based on competition laws around the world.

The two companies will announce a new schedule as soon as they decide on specific dates.

There will be no changes in the terms or the method of the integration, including the stock swap ratio.

Z Holdings is a subsidiary of SoftBank Corp., the telecommunications arm of SoftBank Group Corp.

As part of the integration process, SoftBank and South Korea's Naver Corp., which owns Line, had planned to launch a joint tender offer for Line between May and June this year, in order to withdraw its listing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Z Holdings and Line said the merger cannot be completed in October as the tender offer will have to be pushed back due to the delays in the antitrust reviews.

JIJI Press