Naver signed a $9 billion computing-infrastructure contract with Brookfield on 27 October, meeting a condition for Nvidia’s proposed equity investment in its AI factory, Chosun reported. The agreement advances a project Naver announced with Brookfield and Nvidia in July.
Key points
- Brookfield’s proposed investment of up to $9 billion will fund GPUs and data centres for Naver Cloud.
- Naver Cloud will pay usage fees linked to business revenue, backed by an eight-year Naver guarantee.
- The Brookfield agreement meets a condition for Nvidia’s proposed purchase of newly issued Naver shares.
- Naver plans to operate 55 MW in the first half of 2027 and expand to 200 MW by 2028.
Brookfield’s $9 billion Asset Co. investment
The agreement covers computing infrastructure for a $10 billion AI factory project, UA.News reported. Naver chose Brookfield in July as its exclusive preferred negotiating partner for 12 weeks, when it announced the project with Nvidia.
Brookfield will establish a special-purpose vehicle tentatively called Asset Co. Its planned investment of up to $9 billion will pay for GPUs, data centres and other computing infrastructure made available to Naver Cloud, which will operate the AI factory business.
Chosun put the $9 billion figure at approximately 12 trillion Korean won. Money Today put it at 112 trillion won.
Brookfield manages more than $1 trillion in assets worldwide and has previously formed a semiconductor factory joint venture with Intel, Money Today reported. The asset manager is supplying the capital for this project, while Naver is responsible for operating the infrastructure and finding customers.
Asset Co. will be wholly owned through Brookfield’s investment structure but is expected to appear as a subsidiary in Naver’s consolidated financial statements under Korean International Financial Reporting Standards, according to UA.News.
Naver Cloud’s fees carry an eight-year guarantee
Naver Cloud will use the infrastructure to serve external customers. Revenue from those customers will fund usage fees paid to Asset Co., with the fees linked to revenue from the business, Chosun reported.
The arrangement puts the equipment investment with Brookfield rather than requiring Naver to buy the GPUs and data-centre infrastructure at the outset. Naver said it expects the revenue-linked fees to help manage the project’s early financial risks while reducing its initial investment burden.
Naver has also guaranteed Naver Cloud’s usage-fee obligations for eight years. A Naver official said the guarantee was intended to support performance of the contract and would not itself create cash outflows or a financial burden for Naver, Chosun reported.
Money Today cited a 19 October report from Shinhan Investment Corp saying the structure lets Naver use outside capital for equipment while concentrating on customers and operations. Money Today also reported that Naver earns operating cash flow from its advertising and commerce businesses.
CoreWeave offers a comparison in the financing of computing capacity. The cloud operator’s corporate bond yields had at one point reached 15%, amid concerns about investor appetite for companies whose businesses depend on cloud and GPU rental revenue.
Nvidia’s Naver stake follows the Brookfield contract
Naver said signing the Brookfield contract satisfied the preconditions for Nvidia’s strategic equity investment. Nvidia is expected to receive newly issued Naver shares through a third-party allotment and become the company’s third-largest shareholder once that transaction is completed.
Nvidia’s planned investment is $1 billion, UA.News reported. The chipmaker will also provide technical support for the factory, including work on high-performance computing platforms. Money Today identified DSX as one of the platforms involved in that collaboration.
Naver plans to begin operating 55 MW of capacity in the first half of 2027 and expand to 200 MW by 2028.
