Naver set 6 November as the payment date for Nvidia’s $1 billion investment, which is expected to give the chipmaker about 4.54% of the South Korean internet company through newly issued shares, Seoul Economic Daily reported. Naver gave the date in a regulatory filing on 30 October, after signing a $9 billion computing infrastructure agreement with Brookfield that was a condition of Nvidia’s investment.
Key points
- Nvidia is expected to become Naver’s third-largest shareholder with about 4.54%.
- Brookfield’s vehicle is to invest up to $9 billion in computing infrastructure for Naver Cloud.
- Financial News reported a different payment date of 6 December.
- The first 55MW of planned capacity is due to operate in the first half of 2027.
Brookfield’s $9 billion infrastructure agreement
Naver signed the Brookfield agreement on 27 October to secure computing infrastructure for its AI factory business. The contract fulfilled the prerequisite for Nvidia’s equity investment, as AI Affairs reported when the companies signed the deal. Naver and Nvidia had agreed to the investment in July.
The arrangement puts infrastructure spending in a separate vehicle. Brookfield will establish a special purpose vehicle to invest in GPUs, data centres and other facilities, while Naver Cloud will use the capacity to provide AI computing services. Nvidia’s role in the project centres on technology cooperation involving its DSX infrastructure platform.
Brookfield’s vehicle will invest up to $9 billion to acquire GPUs and data centres and provide computing power to Naver Cloud, Data Centre Dynamics reported. That infrastructure commitment is separate from the $1 billion Naver is due to raise by selling shares to Nvidia.
The companies are pursuing an AI factory project around Naver’s Gak Sejong data centre in South Korea. The Brookfield vehicle’s investment covers the hardware and facilities that Naver Cloud would use for the computing service. Nvidia’s planned payment, by contrast, is for an ownership stake in Naver.
Nvidia’s 4.54% stake and revised dates
Nvidia’s purchase will take the form of a third-party allotment of new Naver shares. The payment date moved from 30 October to 6 November, and the expected listing date moved from 20 November to 27 November. The final size of the share issue is to be determined using the exchange rate on 3 November.
Financial News reported the payment date as 6 December, rather than the 6 November date reported by Seoul Economic Daily. Financial News also described the revised date as the sixth day of the month following October.
The issue price is 204,500 won a share, Financial News reported. Its account put the planned issue at 7,241,564 shares and the expected proceeds at about 1.4809 trillion won, both provisional figures calculated at an exchange rate of 1,480.9 won per dollar. It said the final share count and won proceeds would use the market average exchange rate on 3 November.
As of August, the National Pension Service held 9.49% of Naver and BlackRock held 7.31%. Nvidia is expected to rank behind them once the share sale is complete. Lee Hae-jin, Naver’s board chairman and its current third-largest shareholder, is expected to see his holding decline from 4.03% to about 3.84%.
The shares Nvidia acquires will be subject to mandatory retention, with withdrawals and sales restricted for one year. The restriction applies to the new shares issued for Nvidia’s investment, while the Brookfield arrangement finances the computing infrastructure for the companies’ project.
Gak Sejong’s 55MW first phase
Naver plans to use the money raised from Nvidia for new AI Factory projects, Chosun reported. Naver Cloud’s planned computing service draws instead on the GPUs and data centres financed through Brookfield’s vehicle.
The planned initial capacity is centred on Gak Sejong. Naver intends to extend the business overseas after the South Korean deployment, according to Seoul Economic Daily. The companies’ stated longer-term ambition is infrastructure at gigawatt scale.
Naver plans to begin operating the first 55MW at Gak Sejong in the first half of 2027 and expand the AI factory’s capacity to 200MW in 2028.
