Naver finalizes financing for 12tr won AI factory, easing initial investment burden

Naver has finalized the financing and operating structure for a 1-gigawatt (GW) global artificial intelligence (AI) factory project being pursued with Brookfield, a global asset manager, and Nvidia, an AI semiconductor company. The structure shifts the massive initial investment burden to Brookfield, securing financial stability for Naver, according to industry assessments.

According to Korea Investors Service and the Financial Supervisory Service's DART electronic disclosure system on Oct. 29, Naver signed a contract with Brookfield on Oct. 27 to secure computing infrastructure worth $9 billion (about 12 trillion won). Brookfield will fully fund a special purpose vehicle (SPV) tentatively named AssetCo, which will purchase graphics processing units (GPUs) from Nvidia. Naver Cloud, a Naver subsidiary, will rent GPU-based computing resources from AssetCo in the form of GPU-as-a-service (GPUaaS) to provide AI data center services to external customers.

As massive capital is being poured into AI infrastructure worldwide, creating a financing bottleneck, Naver has devised a capital-efficient structure. Korea Investors Service said, "Because Brookfield bears the obligation to finance the GPU purchases, which account for the largest share of investment funds, Naver does not incur a large initial investment burden." The contract also satisfies a precondition for Nvidia's $1 billion third-party allotment capital increase, and Nvidia is expected to become Naver's third-largest shareholder soon.

Naver is touting differentiated competitiveness from other domestic AI data center operators that focus on simple space leasing. Based on the hyperscale data center GAK Sejong, Naver has full-stack AI capabilities spanning data center construction, large language model (LLM) development, and cloud services, enabling it to provide high-value-added services combining software on top of GPU infrastructure. Naver plans to start operating 55 megawatts (MW) in the first half of next year and expand to 200MW by 2028.

However, the unique business structure also entails accounting burdens and risks. Although Brookfield owns 100% of AssetCo, Naver Cloud holds actual operational decision-making authority, so AssetCo is consolidated as a subsidiary of Naver under Korean International Financial Reporting Standards (K-IFRS). Accordingly, the GPUs purchased by AssetCo are recorded as tangible assets on Naver's consolidated financial statements. Korea Investors Service estimated that Naver's annual depreciation expense will increase by about 2 trillion won (about $1.5 billion) after GPU investment is completed in 2028. Naver provides a payment guarantee of 18.74 trillion won (about $14 billion) for Naver Cloud's usage fee obligations, but this is eliminated as an internal transaction and does not directly translate into an actual financial burden.

Ultimately, the success of the project hinges on securing enough external customers to offset the massive depreciation costs and usage fees paid to Brookfield. Korea Investors Service noted, "If contract periods with external customers are short or customers' financial conditions deteriorate after GPU procurement, preventing them from fulfilling contracts, losses could occur." The size and duration of future contracts that Naver Cloud signs with external customers, as well as the creditworthiness of key customers, are expected to be key points to watch.

(Dollar figures are approximate, converted automatically at 1,000 won = $0.738, the rate on Nov. 8, 2026.)

※ This article is an AI translation of the Korean original published by Korea Credit News; it was checked by automated quality guards and published by the English edition desk.