Nvidia to become Naver's 3rd largest shareholder with $1.5 billion investment, deepening AI alliance

Nvidia is poised to become Naver's third-largest shareholder, acquiring a 4.5% stake for approximately 1.5 trillion won (about $1 billion) through a third-party allocation of new shares. This move solidifies a strategic alliance aimed at dominating the global AI infrastructure market.

The investment is a crucial component of the "Gigawatt-class global AI factory construction agreement" announced by both companies last month. For Naver, this partnership directly addresses the critical needs of securing Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) and equipment, essential for its AI factory business. This marks Naver's first third-party allocation of new shares in 22 years, and the first since its KOSPI listing in 2008.

Funds raised from the share issuance will be channeled into expanding Naver's "Gak Sejong" AI factory data center in Sejong City. Naver plans to invest 5 billion won this year, followed by 692 billion won in 2027 and 783.8 billion won thereafter. To mitigate potential dilution of shareholder value from the new share issuance, Naver's board also resolved to incinerate approximately 1 trillion won worth of its own shares, totaling 4.9 million shares, on August 3rd.

Furthermore, Naver is in discussions with Nvidia regarding a "Global AI Factory Business" partnership for its subsidiary, Naver Cloud. This potential collaboration could extend beyond technology sharing to encompass demand and capital, positioning Nvidia as a co-business entity. In parallel, Naver has entered into a preliminary agreement with Brookfield for $9 billion to secure advanced GPUs and data centers, enabling the operation of hundreds of megawatts (MW) of AI factory capacity. Naver aims to expand its current 55MW AI factory to 200MW by 2028 and eventually to 1 gigawatt (GW), targeting sovereign AI infrastructure demand across Asia-Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East.