Naver shares jumped 8.9% on Monday after the South Korean internet company revealed in a regulatory filing that Nvidia will acquire $1 billion of newly issued common stock through a third-party allotment. The investment will translate to a roughly 4.5% stake in Naver - about 7.24 million common shares, each priced at 204,500 won.
The equity purchase is the capital component of a larger $10 billion global AI factory program. Under the arrangement, Nvidia contributes $1 billion in strategic capital while Brookfield, named as the exclusive preferred negotiator, is expected to provide up to $9 billion in financing aimed at procuring GPU hardware and data center capacity. Naver says the financing and capital commitments will allow it to more than triple the scale of its AI facility.
To mitigate dilution from the fresh share issuance, Naver concurrently announced plans to cancel about 4.9 million treasury shares valued at roughly 1 trillion won, with the cancellation scheduled for August. That shareholder-friendly step attracted additional buying interest from institutional investors.
Market conditions also supported the rally. The KOSPI opened about 1.7% higher, helped by easing tensions in the Middle East and optimism around Korea-U.S. AI cooperation after the San Francisco AI Summit on July 24, where Naver Chairman Lee Hae-jin and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang signed the strategic investment agreement. U.S. equities were firmer as well, with the S&P 500 up 0.9% and the Nasdaq rising 1.5% as investors positioned ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy decision due Wednesday.
Collectively, Nvidia’s equity commitment, the scope of the AI infrastructure roadmap supported by Brookfield financing, the treasury share cancellation, and a constructive macro backdrop combined to drive one of Naver’s largest single-session gains in recent months. The stock reached its highest level since late June and significantly outperformed the more modest gains posted by the KOSPI on the same day.
Deal mechanics and ownership
The $1 billion share purchase by Nvidia comes via a third-party allotment and will make the U.S. chipmaker one of Naver’s three largest shareholders. The precise allotment totals approximately 7.24 million common shares at 204,500 won apiece, representing an ownership stake of roughly 4.5%.
Financing and scaling the AI facility
The announced $10 billion AI factory plan pairs Nvidia’s $1 billion equity commitment with Brookfield’s potential provision of up to $9 billion in financing. Those funds are intended to secure GPU infrastructure and data center capacity that Naver says will enable a more-than-threefold expansion of its AI facility.
Shareholder response and timing
To counterbalance dilution, Naver will cancel about 4.9 million treasury shares valued at about 1 trillion won, with cancellation slated for August. That action, combined with the strategic partnership disclosure, helped draw institutional buying interest.
This sequence of announcements and market movements drove the pronounced intraday move observed in Naver’s stock, setting it well above the KOSPI’s intraday advance.