LINE/Z Holdings: TFTC took some time to define relative market pre-review – commissioner

Taiwan’s Fair Trade Commission (TFTC) spent some time studying and evaluating what should be the relevant market for the business integration of Z Holdings [TYO:4689] and LINE Corporation [TYO:3938] before officially kicking off the review process last week, said a TFTC commissioner.

Taiwan’s Fair Trade Commission (TFTC) spent some time studying and evaluating what should be the relevant market for the business integration of Z Holdings [TYO:4689] and LINE Corporation [TYO:3938] before officially kicking off the review process in early July, a TFTC commissioner told Dealreporter. 

LINE has a major share of the instant messenger market in Taiwan, as well as operations in third-party payment services and online advertising, which means the relevant markets are multi-dimensional and not easy to identify, the commissioner said. 

So, it took some time for the TFTC to define the relevant market and identify the competitors, the commissioner said, adding that the deal was presented to the committee for preliminary discussion a few months ago. 

Price bump?

Meanwhile, no change is “currently anticipated” to the JPY 5,380 per share tender offer price, according to a joint press release issued 30 June.However, a SoftBank spokesperson said it and NAVER are expected to ask the LINE board and its special committee to provide an updated opinion on the JPY 5,380 per share offer price before the launch of their joint tender offers.

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by Robert Lo in Taipei and Norie Hata in Tokyo