Naver

AI Infrastructure · Cloud Computing · Semiconductors

Partnership

Naver sells Nvidia a 4.5% stake for $1B to fund AI data centers

It marks Naver's first new-share sale in 22 years, anchoring a $10 billion AI-factory buildout that leans on Brookfield for most of the financing.

• Naver disclosed a third-party allotment of 7,241,564 new shares to Nvidia at 204,500 won each, worth about $1 billion, for a 4.5% stake in the company.
• Naver is South Korea's dominant internet search and cloud provider; the deal deepens ties between its Naver Cloud unit and Nvidia's chips and AI-factory software.
• The stake sale is Naver's first third-party share issuance since it moved to the KOSPI main board in 2008, with payment due Oct. 30 and 4.9 million treasury shares set to be retired Aug. 3 to offset dilution.
• Nvidia's $1B stake is one slice of a $10B AI infrastructure package; Naver named Canadian asset manager Brookfield its exclusive preferred partner to arrange the remaining roughly $9B in project financing.
• The funding will scale Naver's Sejong 'GAK' data center from a 55MW AI factory in 2027 to 200MW by 2028 and eventually 1 gigawatt, running on Nvidia's Vera Rubin and Blackwell chip platforms.
• Naver shares jumped more than 10%, touching 255,000 won intraday on the Korea Exchange, after the filing was disclosed.
• The deal shows Nvidia moving beyond chip sales into direct equity stakes in national AI buildouts, a template it is testing as countries race to secure sovereign AI compute.