Yahoo Japan Corp is Japan`s biggest internet portal and SoftBank own a 42,6% stake in Yahoo Japan. Yahoo Japan Corp will try to buy mobile network operator eAccess for 324 billion yen ($3,17 billion). The stock slid -6,38% yesterday.
They will try to launch their own mobile internet service and their new Y!mobile service would aim for more than 20 million users. The purchase is scheduled for June 2 and will follow eAccess` planned merger with wireless provider Willcom, which is also a member of SoftBank group.
Combined they have about 10 million users. Yahoo`s President Manabu Miyasaka said they want additional 10 million users, and they do this because they want control over their own sales channel and service, so they launch this as a standard mobile operator with a simple pricing structure.
SoftBank have a 99,68% stake in eAccess but will have only 33,29% voting rights due to regulatory restrictions. SoftBank launched the Apple Inc iPhone in Japan. They aquired the mobile carrier Sprint Corp last year (No 3 in U.S).
The telecom is extremely attractive to companies like this. They will be nothing without this connections. It`s a growing demand for mobile devices, and consumers in Japan will have an average of six mobile devices each, including wearables and mobile devices in cars, Yahoo`s president said.
Yahoo need to slash prices to win market share against their competitors like NTT DoCoMo Inc and KDDI Corp, as well as their own parent SoftBank, because Japan`s telecom market is ultracompetetive.
SoftBank bought eAccess for 180 billion Yen in 2012 to meet the rising demand for bandwidth as smart phone users surf the web, watch videos and play games. They need to be prepared for faster network demand.
Yahoo Japan will start the new service called Y!mobile and share phone networks with SoftBank, once eAccess acquires Willcom in June. Yahoo Japan hope to win more users who will turn more frequently to their marketplace and auction sites and boosting their e-commers and online advertising businesses.
As the Yahoo president say; they are trying to do something wild, and not be in a status quo position. So are SoftBank doing it. They have been pursuing investments in internet firms around the world, and have a stake in Yahoo Japan, and a 36,7% stake in Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group.
A listing of Alibaba would be one of the largest IPO`s by an internet company.
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Ket Garden
Shiny bull 