Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten to grow $2.2 billion by giving new shares to Walmart, Tencent, and Japan Post
Japanese tech monster Rakuten is intending to raise $2.2 billion to assist it with contending its U.S. rivals.
The organization reported Friday that it will give 211,656,500 shares at 1,145 Japanese yen ($10.5) per share.
National post service Japan Post is relied upon to purchase 131,004,000 shares for an 8.3% stake, Chinese internet firm Tencent is required to take 57,382,900 for a 3.6% stake, and U.S. retailer Walmart is relied upon to take 14,536,000 shares for a 0.9% stake.
The payment date will be between Mar. 29 and Apr. 30.
Hiroshi Mikitani, Rakuten’s founder, chairman, and CEO said in a statement: “These new investments in Rakuten indicate both high expectations for the growth and impact of the Rakuten ecosystem with the mobile service at its core, as well as great potential for further collaboration with leading companies from the world’s three leading economies.”
Established in 1997, Rakuten has more than 70 businesses and 1.4 billion members around the world. Rakuten Ichiba is one of the biggest e-commerce sites in Japan yet Rakuten’s market value stands at $16.5 billion. Amazon in the interim is esteemed at more than $1.5 trillion.
Rakuten is additionally notable for its video streaming service Rakuten TV. In the course of the last few years, Rakuten has obtained various organizations including messaging app Viber and e-book platform Kobo.
At a news conference on Friday, Mikitani purportedly said Rakuten faces the incredibly amazing tech forces led by GAFA (Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Apple).
Rakuten and Japan Post are wanting to partner in logistics, mobile, and payments businesses, while there is additionally the chance of partnerships with Tencent.
“The new potential for partnering with Tencent opens up a broad portfolio of opportunities, from digital entertainment, including online games, to e-commerce,” said Mikitani in a statement. “We’re also excited to have Walmart’s financial commitment as they continue to invest in the future of retail.”
Martin Lau, executive director and president of Tencent, said in an articulation: “Rakuten has built a vibrant ecosystem through its membership and loyalty program, extending its unrivaled strength from e-commerce to FinTech and digital content.”
“Tencent shares Rakuten’s aspiration of creating value through innovation and empowerment for users and partners. We are excited to invest in Rakuten, supporting its evolution into a global innovation leader. We look forward to pursuing strategic cooperation across activities including digital entertainment and e-commerce, creating value for users and building the Internet ecosystem together.”
Shares of Rakuten climbed over 8% to 1,142 Japanese yen on the Tokyo market on Friday.
