Yahoo Japan, Usen to merge media content arms

TOKYO, April 7 (Reuters) - Yahoo Japan Corp (4689.T) said on Tuesday it will take under its wing Usen Corp's 4842.OJ loss-making online video site to cut costs as it competes with Google Inc's (GOOG.O) YouTube.

Yahoo Japan, owned 41 percent by Softbank Corp (9984.T) and 34.1 percent by Yahoo Inc (YHOO.O), said it will pay 530 million yen ($5.3 million) for a 51 percent stake in Usen's GyaO site and eventually merge their platforms.

The move may herald further consolidation within Japan's loss-ridden online content industry, battered by dwindling advertisement revenues.

"I would like to discuss (with Yahoo Japan) if we can cooperate in other ways," Usen President Yasuhide Uno told a news conference.

Losses in Usen's video and contents business helped drag down the broadband contents provider to a net loss of 53.9 billion yen in the year ended in October, as it also struggles with licensing fees.

YouTube, the world's biggest video-sharing site, has been plagued by tension with the music industry over royalties and advertisement revenue sharing. [ID:nN09466292] ($1=100.60 Yen) (Reporting by Mayumi Negishi)