Line Corporation
Line Corporation's headquarters | |
Native name | Line 株式会社 |
|---|---|
| Formerly |
|
| Company type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Internet and Telecommunications |
| Predecessor | NHN Japan |
| Founded | September 4, 2000, in Tokyo, Japan |
| Defunct | October 1, 2023 |
| Fate | Merged with Z Holdings and Yahoo! Japan |
| Successor | LY Corporation |
| Headquarters | , Japan |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Takeshi Idezawa (CEO) |
| Products | Line, livedoor |
| Services | Line App, Line Manga, Line Play, Line Taxi |
| Revenue | ¥166.4B "$1.5B USD" (2020) |
| Total assets | ¥541.4B "$5B USD"(2020) |
| Total equity | ¥147.7B "$1.4B USD" (2020) |
Number of employees | 2,268 |
| Parent | Z Holdings (65.3%) |
| Subsidiaries | Line Plus Corporation Line Business Partners Corporation DataHotel Co., Ltd. Line Digital Frontier Line Vietnam Line Company Thailand |
| Website | www |
Line Corporation (Line 株式会社, Rain Kabushiki gaisha) was a Japanese internet company. It was a subsidiary of Z Holdings, a joint venture between SoftBank Group and Naver Corporation. It was established in 2000 as the Japanese subsidiary of South Korean NHN Corporation's online game community site Hangame, under the name Hangame Japan. In 2003, it was renamed NHN Japan and in 2013, it was rebranded as Line Corporation.
The company operates various internet services, including the communication app Line, as well as Line Music, and Line Manga, and Line Pay.
In 2019, during the merger with Yahoo, Line Corporation (the original entity) was reorganized into a holding company and established as Line Split Preparation Corporation, and in 2021, it changed its company name to Line Corporation (2nd generation) by taking over the business from the original entity. At this time, the original entity changed its name to A Holdings Corporation.
On February 2, 2023, it was announced that Z Holdings and Yahoo would merge during the fiscal year 2023. On October 1 of the same year, Yahoo, Z Entertainment, and Z Data merged into Z Holdings and changed their name to "Line Yahoo Corporation." Line Corporation transferred its assets, rights, and businesses to Line Yahoo Corporation through absorption-type split except for certain overseas stocks, and changed its name to the current one. It is expected to become a holding company managing overseas subsidiaries' stocks and other assets through business reorganization.