Benzinga | Mar 1, 2021 01:45PM EST

SoftBank's Internet Business To Invest $4.7B In Five Years: Reuters

SoftBank Group Corp's (OTC: SFTBF) (OTC: SFTBY) internet subsidiary Z Holdings intends to invest $4.7 billion (500 billion yen) in technology over five years, primarily focused on artificial intelligence to fend competition from larger rivals like Alphabet Inc's (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google and Amazon.com, Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN), Reuters reports.

* The investment is preceded by the merger of its internet business Yahoo Japan with chat app operator, Line, becoming a $30 billion internet major.

* Following the merger, two-thirds of Z Holdings will be held A holdings owned 50:50 by SoftBank Corp and South Korea's Naver Corp.

* The CEOs of Z Holdings and Line, Kentaro Kawabe and Takeshi Idezawa become co-CEOs of A Holdings.

* Z Holdings aims to generate sales and operating income worth 2 trillion yen and 225 billion yen, respectively, by 2023.

* Price action: SFTBY shares are trading higher by 4.50% at $48.99 on the last check Monday.