NHN liquidates assets in Cayman Islands

NHN, Korea’s largest search engine operator, has completed its liquidation of its overseas assets based in the tax haven of Cayman Islands, according to a public disclosure filing.

The portal giant’s NHN Global, established in 2004 on the islands, is said to have shut down after converting its assets worth some 19 billion won into cash up until early this year. As of last Wednesday, NHN Global is now off the books.

The operator of Naver set up its Cayman Islands-based entity after investing in a joint venture online gaming partnership with Rainbow Holdings in China in line with plans to foray into the Chinese gaming market and seek listing on the U.S. NASDAQ exchange.

However, NHN began considering liquidating its Cayman entity as the gaming joint venture was not bringing in profit and the potential of listing on the NASDAQ waned. NHN divested its equities in the Chinese joint venture in 2010.

Its liquidation plan for NHN Global may have picked up speed as the new government of President Park Geun-hye seeks to clamp down on corporations and wealthy individuals holding offshore accounts in tax havens, analysts said.

Its strong will to bring offshore tax evaders and other dodgers to light comes as the incumbent government seeks to increase tax revenue in an effort to finance welfare projects and the sustainability of small and medium enterprises.

Offshore havens exempt companies or individuals from paying direct tax, income tax, inheritance tax among others, thus making it unnecessary to file tax reports to their respective governments.

NHN, also the operator of Line mobile messenger, is also under investigation by Korea’s Fair Trade Commission over whether it has unfairly treated its partners and advertisers.

By Park Hyong-ki (hkp@heraldcorp.com)