With a goal of deeper penetration in the Japanese market, South Korea’s Naver/Webtoon subsidiary Line buys Ebook Initiative Japan. Today (April 1), the Webtoon Japanese subsidiary Line Digital Frontier has completed an acquisition of its own, buying Ebook Initiative Japan, an ebook service provider. The deal was announced on March 4, with Webtoon’s Line Corporation gaining 100-percent ownership of Ebook Initiative Japan. Linked through Yahoo Japan, Ebook Japan reportedly hosts more than 800,000 works, 95 percent of those sales in manga. Last year, Line Manga and Ebook Japan reported combined transaction amounts of 76.8 billion yen (US$625.3 million).

Source: CNN April 01, 2022 16:25 UTC