Rakuten in Japn to Raise $1.6 B, Softbank to Invest $1 B in Coupang

Hiruki Nakamura
04 Jun, 2015
New York City

Nikkei average in Tokyo rebounded after two days of losses and traders were cautious. Online retailer Rakuten announced a stock offering of $1.6 billion to repay debt. In addition, Softbank said it plans to invest $1 billion in South Korea based online retailer Coupang.

[R]4:30 PM Tokyo – Nikkei average in Tokyo rebounded after two days of losses and traders were cautious. Online retailer Rakuten announced a stock offering of $1.6 billion to repay debt. In addition, Softbank said it plans to invest $1 billion in South Korea based online retailer Coupang.[/R]

Nikkei average in Tokyo rebounded after two days of losses but traders were cautious on volatile bond markets in Europe and in New York.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 14.68 to 20,488.19 and the broader Topix index edged up 3.90 to 1,673.89.

The yen closed at 124.33 against a dollar.

Stocks in Review

Asahi Diamond Industrial Co., Ltd climbed 2.9% to 1,437 yen after the Nikkei news reported the diamond tools maker planned to return about 80% fiscal 2017 net profit to investors.

The company plans to pay annual dividend of 30 yen per share in this fiscal year with the payout ratio projected at 40.7%.

Nippon Life Insurance Company, the Nikkei daily said insurance company is in talks with National Australia Bank to acquire its insurance business for about 200 billion yen to 300 billion yen or $1.6 billion.

Softbank Corporation slipped 1.2% to 7,348 yen after the telecoms group said it will invest $1 billion in South Korea-based online retailer Coupang.

Rakuten Inc declined 6.2% to 1,951.50 yen after the online shopping mall operator reported the company planned to offer 99.61 million new shares worth 188 billion yen or $1.5 billion and use 90% of proceeds to reduce the debt of about 80 billion yen and rest to fund future acquisitions and investments.