Nvidia invests $1 bil. in Naver for 4.5% stake
Strategic deal deepens AI infrastructure partnership as companies target global AI factory, sovereign AI markets
Naver Chairman Lee Hae-jin, right, shakes hands with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang after signing a $1 billion strategic investment agreement at Nvidia's headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif., Friday (local time). Courtesy of Naver
Nvidia has agreed to acquire a 4.5 percent stake in Naver through a $1 billion strategic investment, deepening a partnership aimed at building large-scale artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure and expanding sovereign AI services.
Naver announced Monday that it had signed an agreement to issue about 7.24 million new shares to Nvidia through a third-party allotment, marking its first such share sale in 22 years and the first since its 2008 KOSPI listing.
The new shares, priced at 204,500 won ($140) each, represent a 4.5 percent stake in Naver. Payment is scheduled for Oct. 30.
Naver said it would cancel about 4.9 million treasury shares worth about 1 trillion won on Aug. 3 to offset shareholder dilution from the new share issuance. Following the cancellation, Nvidia is expected to become Naver's third-largest shareholder, behind the National Pension Service and BlackRock.
The investment follows an agreement between the two companies in June to jointly develop gigawatt-scale AI factories, expanding their partnership beyond Nvidia's role in supplying graphics processing units (GPUs).
Naver said its IT arm, Naver Cloud, is in discussions with Nvidia on an AI compute partnership to jointly pursue global AI factory projects. It added that the partnership would extend beyond technology cooperation to include demand and capital, with Nvidia expected to participate alongside Naver Cloud in the AI factory business.
Naver said Nvidia's investment reflects what it described as its integrated AI capabilities, including data centers, GPU clusters, AI platforms, proprietary foundation models and commercial AI services.
“Naver, which became the first company in the world to commercialize Nvidia's supercomputing infrastructure in 2019, has integrated core data center technologies, including cooling, power and networking, for AI workloads, based on more than 20 years of infrastructure operating experience,” the company said.
President Lee Jae Myung poses with Naver Chairman Lee Hae-jin, right, and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang after the two companies signed a strategic partnership agreement during the San Francisco AI Summit, Friday (local time). Yonhap
The investment is part of a broader plan that Naver unveiled to build an AI factory at its GAK Sejong hyperscale data center in Korea, backed by a combined $10 billion from Nvidia and Canadian investment firm Brookfield.
Brookfield signed a nonbinding agreement to provide up to $9 billion in financing for the infrastructure needed to operate the factory.
The initial phase of the project will expand its AI infrastructure to 200 megawatts. The facility will have capacity for about 100,000 Nvidia GPUs, based on its Vera Rubin and Blackwell platforms.
Naver shares surged 8.43 percent to close at 225,000 won Monday following the announcement of a strategic investment deal with Nvidia and plans to build large-scale AI infrastructure.
Naver said it aims to begin generating revenue from the AI factory business next year, with a 55-megawatt facility scheduled to begin operations in the first half of 2027. It plans to expand capacity to 200 megawatts by 2028 and eventually to 1 gigawatt.
“The investments from Nvidia and Brookfield would mark an important milestone for Naver's future growth and provide an opportunity for the company to expand rapidly into the global AI infrastructure market by leveraging its technology and infrastructure,” Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon said.
“Naver aims to quickly secure customers for its AI factory business and use the investment as a springboard to become a leading player in the global AI infrastructure market."