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Press Releases 2003

SOFTBANK announces a partial sale of its holding in Yahoo Japan Corporation

Mar. 3, 2003

The Board of Directors of SOFTBANK CORP. (hereinafter called “SOFTBANK”) resolved today to sell a portion of its holding in Yahoo Japan Corporation (Head office: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President & CEO: Masahiro Inoue; hereinafter called “Yahoo! JAPAN”).

The Board of Directors of SOFTBANK BB Corp. (Head office: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; President & CEO: Masayoshi Son; hereinafter called “SBB”) also resolved today to sell all of its holding in Yahoo! JAPAN.

1. Outline of sale

(1) Total number of shares to be sold

40,000 (SOFTBANK: 15,000 ; SBB: 25,000)

(2) Method of sale

Offering for sale

2. Purpose of sale

The purpose of the sale is to improve the distribution and liquidity of Yahoo! JAPAN shares in the market place. SOFTBANK’s intention is in compliance with that of Yahoo! JAPAN.

SOFTBANK will continue to hold 197,608 shares of Yahoo! JAPAN following the sale, with an ownership ratio of approximately 42%. Although the ownership ratio will decline below 50%, Yahoo! JAPAN will remain a consolidated subsidiary of SOFTBANK based on effective control standards.

Regardless of the ownership ratio, Yahoo! JAPAN remains an important business partner for SOFTBANK, and the sale will have no substantial impact on the Yahoo! BB services that Yahoo! JAPAN jointly provides with SBB. SOFTBANK will continue to seek synergy with Yahoo! JAPAN in all aspects, with a focus on the broadband business.

SOFTBANK granted 25,000 shares of Yahoo! JAPAN to SBB as an investment in kind in February 2003 in order to enhance SBB’s capital and strengthen its financial base.

3. Use of proceeds

Proceeds from the sale will be allocated for the broadband business, which SOFTBANK as a group is rapidly developing.

4. Impact of the sale on financial results for the fiscal year 2003

SOFTBANK will announce the actual amount of gain on sale of such shares after such amount is determined.

For reference purposes

The amount of proceeds from the sale of such shares based on the February 28, 2003 closing price of Yahoo! JAPAN shares of 2,040,000 yen would total 81.6 billion yen. In such case, gain on sale of investments in affiliates of approximately 30 billion yen would be recognized on a stand-alone basis, and gain on sale of investment securities of approximately 78 billion yen would be recognized on a consolidated basis.

  • *Releases, announcements, presentations and other information available from this page and elsewhere on this website were prepared based on information available and views held at the time of preparation and speak only as of the respective dates on which they are filed or used by SOFTBANK or the applicable group company, as the case may be. Such information is subject to change and may become out-of-date. Such information may also contain forward-looking statements which are by their nature subject to various risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results and future developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Please read legal notices in its entirety prior to viewing any information available on this website.