South Korean Tech Giant Naver Provides Up to 18.74 Trillion KRW Payment Guarantee for AI Factory, Shifts Operations to Naver Cloud

South Korean internet giant Naver announced on October 27, 2026, that it has signed a $9 billion (approx. 12 trillion KRW) computing infrastructure acquisition contract with Canadian asset manager Brookfield. As part of this agreement, Naver decided to provide a payment guarantee of up to 18.74 trillion KRW for GPU computing service fees payable by its subsidiary Naver Cloud to Brookfield. This amount represents 64.73% of Naver's own capital.

This signing satisfies the prerequisite conditions of the previous $1 billion strategic investment agreement between Naver and Nvidia. Under the July deal, Nvidia acquired approximately 4.5% of Naver's shares through a third-party allotment capital increase, but required Naver to secure at least $9 billion in independent computing infrastructure. Naver stated that with the condition met, it will promptly complete the capital increase procedure for Nvidia.

The transaction structure shows that Brookfield will handle infrastructure investment through its domestic investment vehicle and an Asset Company (Asset Co.), while Naver Cloud will procure GPU-as-a-Service (GPUaaS) from Asset Co. and provide it to customers. Notably, the operating entity changed from the originally planned 100% new subsidiary to the existing Naver Cloud. Although Asset Co. is wholly owned by Brookfield, it will be consolidated into Naver's financial statements under K-IFRS accounting standards because its business depends entirely on Naver Cloud.

Regarding the 18.74 trillion KRW guarantee scale, Naver emphasized that this is the nominal total service fee expected to accrue until the end of 2034, assuming Brookfield fully executes the $9 billion investment. Since fees are paid based on actual usage and occur in stages, this guarantee does not equate to immediate cash outflow or cost burden, but rather serves as a credit mechanism to ensure contract performance.