[Edaily Reporter Lee So-Hyun ] NVIDIA’s $1 billion strategic investment in Naver (NAVER(035420)) will be delayed by one week from the original schedule. With Naver having met the condition of securing $9 billion in computing infrastructure to attract NVIDIA’s investment, NVIDIA is expected to become Naver’s third-largest shareholder once the capital contribution is completed next month.

On the 30th, Naver announced in an amended disclosure regarding its third-party private placement that NVIDIA’s capital contribution date has been changed from October 30 to November 6.

Consequently, the scheduled listing date for the new shares has also been postponed by one week, from November 20 to November 27.

Naver stated that it has already met the prerequisite for this investment—securing at least $9 billion worth of computing infrastructure. On the 27th, Naver signed an agreement with global alternative investment firm Brookfield to secure computing infrastructure for the construction of an AI factory.

NVIDIA to Hold 4.54% Stake… Expected to Become Third-Largest Shareholder

NVIDIA’s investment amounts to $1 billion. Naver plans to finalize the total number of shares to be issued and the amount raised in Korean won based on the exchange rate in effect on the 3rd of next month, and then receive the subscription payments on the 6th.

Once the payment is complete, NVIDIA’s stake in Naver is expected to be approximately 4.54%.

As of August of this year, Naver’s largest shareholder is the National Pension Service, which holds a 9.49% stake, followed by BlackRock with 7.31%. NVIDIA is expected to become the third-largest shareholder after these two.

The stake held by Naver Chairman Lee Hae-jin, the company’s founder, is expected to decrease from the current 4.03% to approximately 3.84% due to dilution resulting from the new share issuance.

However, the final ownership stakes of both NVIDIA and Chairman Lee Hae-jin may change once the number of shares issued is finalized based on the actual exchange rate applied.

Securing $9 Billion in Infrastructure… AI Factory Enters Implementation Phase

This investment is tied to Naver’s large-scale AI Factory project.

Last July, Naver signed a new share subscription agreement with NVIDIA and decided to conduct a third-party private placement. Under this structure, NVIDIA will invest $1 billion, and Brookfield will raise up to $9 billion to support the construction of Naver’s AI computing infrastructure.

Based on the secured infrastructure, Naver plans to expand its AI Factory business, which operates large-scale GPU-based AI services and supplies AI computing resources to domestic and international companies.

According to the regulatory filing, the preliminary number of shares to be issued is 7,241,564, with an issue price of 204,500 won per share. The amount raised in Korean won is approximately 1.4809 trillion won, based on a preliminary exchange rate of 1,480.9 won per dollar.

The final number of shares to be issued and the amount raised will be reconfirmed on the 3rd of next month using the average exchange rate from the Seoul Foreign Exchange Brokerage Market.

The new shares acquired by NVIDIA will be registered for mandatory holding with the Korea Securities Depository, and their withdrawal and sale will be restricted for one year.

Once the subscription payment is completed, the relationship between Naver and NVIDIA will evolve from a GPU supply partnership into a strategic partnership linked by capital. Naver plans to work with NVIDIA and Brookfield to accelerate the construction of AI Factory infrastructure and expand its global AI infrastructure business.