NVIDIA Bets 1.48 Trillion Won on Naver, Takes 4.5% Stake (Roundup)

[Financial News] NVIDIA has formed a strategic alliance with Naver through a $1 billion investment. Naver is also carrying out a third-party allotment capital increase for the first time in 22 years and is moving to secure $9 billion worth of AI infrastructure with Brookfield, stepping up its push into the global AI infrastructure market.
Naver said on the 27th that it had secured a $1 billion strategic investment, or 1.4809 trillion won, from NVIDIA through a third-party allotment capital increase. With this investment, NVIDIA will acquire 7,241,564 common shares of Naver and hold a 4.5% stake. This is Naver's first third-party allotment capital increase in 22 years and its first since the company's KOSPI listing in 2008.
Naver said the latest investment by NVIDIA follows the two companies' June announcement of an agreement to build a massive global AI factory at the gigawatt scale. The company stressed that the move is significant because it establishes a strategic partnership aimed at making the AI factory business a success.
To enhance shareholder value, Naver also plans to cancel 4.9 million treasury shares worth about 1 trillion won in August. The move is intended to minimize concerns that existing shareholders could be diluted by the issuance of new shares.
In addition, Naver is working with global investment firm Brookfield to secure $9 billion in AI infrastructure. Brookfield is known for its strengths in data centers and renewable energy investments. Through the partnership, Naver plans to secure advanced GPUs and data centers needed to operate an AI factory at a scale of several hundred megawatts.
In the AI industry, GPU supply is regarded as a key factor that can determine the success or failure of a business. Naver expects its cooperation with NVIDIA and Brookfield to help it secure the computing resources it needs in advance, even amid a global GPU shortage, and accelerate the buildout of its AI infrastructure.
NAVER Cloud is also in talks with NVIDIA over an "AI Compute Partnership" agreement. The plan is to build an integrated cooperation framework that includes not only technology collaboration but also demand and capital, and to jointly push ahead with the AI factory business. NVIDIA is expected to participate as a co-business partner of NAVER Cloud.
With this investment and infrastructure expansion, Naver aims to shift the center of its AI business from services to infrastructure. Based on full-stack capabilities that include its own data centers, GPU clusters, AI platforms, and large-scale AI models, the company plans to fully launch its AI infrastructure business for enterprises and governments.
Naver, which currently operates GPU capacity at more than 20 sites nationwide, is building a standard server system and aims to shorten the time from resource procurement to service launch to less than one month. Based on its experience operating a GPU cluster of about 100,000 units, the company also plans to expand its GPUaaS business.
Naver outlined a roadmap that begins with the launch of a 55MW global AI factory in the first half of 2027, expands to 200MW in 2028, and then grows into a 1GW-scale AI infrastructure. Based on this, it plans to target rising demand for sovereign AI infrastructure in Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and other regions.
Soo Yeon Choi, CEO of Naver, said, "The investments from NVIDIA and Brookfield will be an important turning point for Naver's future growth," adding, "Starting with this investment, we are very encouraged to have created an opportunity to quickly enter the global AI infrastructure market through Naver's technology and infrastructure." She added, "We will also move quickly to secure AI factory clients and use this as a turning point for Naver to leap forward as a major company in the global AI infrastructure sector."
Meanwhile, Naver signed the strategic investment agreement on the 24th local time at NVIDIA's headquarters in Santa Clara, California, with Lee Hae-jin, chairman of Naver's board, CEO Soo Yeon Choi, and NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang in attendance. Later that day, Lee attended the government-hosted "San Francisco K-AI Summit" at The Midway in San Francisco. Lee said, "As Naver has secured investments from NVIDIA and Brookfield and now has an opportunity to scale up its accumulated data center operations technology and know-how on the global stage, we will actively cooperate with companies around the world to build an AI ecosystem that respects the diversity of nations and groups."
[email protected] Jo Yoon-ju Reporter