SoftBank’s Z Holdings Hunts For Deal To Redefine Japanese Social Media

SoftBank’s internet subsidiary Z Holdings (ZHD), which operates Yahoo Japan’s search engine and eCommerce services, is on the hunt for a deal that would redefine the social media landscape in Japan, the Financial Times reported on Thursday (March 4).

ZDH, a consolidated subsidiary of SoftBank Corp., is aiming to take a page from Facebook’s purchase of Instagram and Google’s acquisition of YouTube and find a similar deal that would be just as transformative.

The joint chief executives of Z Holdings told the Financial Times the company is looking to collaborate with or acquire startups backed by SoftBank’s $100 billion Vision Fund. The goal is to develop a Southeast Asian competitor to American and Chinese tech giants.

“We will be looking for opportunities to acquire an epoch-making global service,” said Kentaro Kawabe, co-CEO of Z Holdings. “Our ambition is to become the third [technology] option for the world.”

Co-CEO Takeshi Idezawa told FT that the company is looking to potentially team with Vision Fund-backed companies in food delivery, ridesharing, eCommerce and FinTech.

The company told the news outlet that it expects to generate 2 trillion yen in revenue by the fiscal year ending in March 2024 from its advertising, eCommerce and payment businesses.

ZDH is also striving to help reduce Japan’s dependence on paper processes, which was brought to light during the coronavirus pandemic. The company is hoping to digitize government and healthcare.

“We feel ashamed. We had previously given up on government agencies since they still use fax machines,” Kawabe said, per FT. “But from now on, we’re going to be actively making proposals for digitalization.”

ZHD closed a deal for the acquisition of Line this week and plans to merge PayPay and Line at the merchant level by August. The tie-up comes as Japan increases its drive for a cashless economy. Line has a reported 86 million domestic users.