SoftBank and Naver to Sell Down Stake in Japan’s Line App (1)

A Holdings Corp., a holding company owned equally by Japan’s SoftBank Corp. and South Korea’s Naver Corp., plans to sell down its stake via LY Corp.’s ¥150 billion ($1 billion) tender.

The move is designed to raise the proportion of LY’s tradable shares to 35% or above, a requirement to remain listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s Prime Section. LY would buy back up to 5.13% of its outstanding shares from A Holdings at ¥388 per share, SoftBank said in a statement Friday.

The tender comes as the capital structure of the operator of Japan’s biggest messaging app ...