Foundation of Joint Venture with SBI Holdings, Inc.
Aug. 18, 2006SOFTBANK CORP. (“SOFTBANK”) announces that it has started talks with SBI Holdings, Inc. (Head office: Minato-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director and CEO; Yoshitaka Kitao; hereinafter “SBI Holdings”) to found a joint venture which projects and operates the financial portal site business as stated below. Both companies will make 50% investment in the joint venture, respectively. Masayoshi Son and Yoshitaka Kitao, representative of each company, will assume a post of Director.
1. Reason for founding joint venture
The SOFTBANK Group runs mobile communications, broadband infrastructure and fixed-line telecommunications businesses and has developed its determined operating base as an integrated telecommunications operator. In addition, it forms a corporate group providing broadband content including various videos and online games with having the most advanced IT technologies and know-how in the world.
On the other hand, SBI Holdings group, which forms a comprehensive financial group, owns a wide variety of finance-related content in relation to financial products including securities/insurance/commodity futures or assessment procedures of such products. At the same time, it keeps further expanding its business aiming at the nation’s largest distributor which sells all sorts of financial products from the investors?or consumers?perspectives through advancing into a new territory such as Internet banking.
Both companies intend to display each other’s strengths to provide investors and users of financial products/services with rich and beneficial investment-related information by building up the powerful financial portal site based on the idea of what we call WEB2.0.
Besides, SOFTBANK AM CORPORATION, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SOFTBANK, sold its shares held in SBI Holdings on August 3, which eliminated capital ties between SOFTBANK and SBI Holdings. However, both companies already agreed to maintain and develop stronger business relationship than ever. The foundation of the joint venture designed for the financial portal site business is a part of the business rollout based on such direction.
2. Outline of joint venture (planned)
| Trade name | to be determined (decided through future discussions). |
|---|---|
| Capital | 200 million yen (including 100 million yen in capital reserves) |
| Capital composition |
|
| Field of Business | Planning and operation of financial portal site business |
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