Softbank to Buy Japan Telecom From Ripplewood for 340 Billion Yen
Posted on: Thursday, 27 May 2004, 06:00 CDT
May 27--TOKYO -- Softbank Corp. announced Thursday it will purchase Japan Telecom Co. from U.S. investment fund Ripplewood Holdings LLC for about 340 billion yen in the fall.
Softbank, a major Internet business investor, said it will buy all of the 144 million outstanding shares of Japan Telecom, the nation's third-largest fixed-line phone company, from Ripplewood and five other firms on Nov. 16.
The purchase will boost the Softbank group's annual revenues to 1 trillion yen with subscribers' combined telecommunications circuits expected to exceed 10 million.
Ripplewood acquired Japan Telecom from Vodafone Group PLC of Britain for about 260 billion yen last November. But the telecom firm's business has not been revitalized, apparently prompting the U.S. investment firm to look for a buyer.
By acquiring Japan Telecom, Softbank aims to expand its customer base for its asymmetric digital subscriber line and other telecom services to include business corporations, industry observer say.
Softbank's ADSL service has around 4 million subscribers, mostly individuals.
Japan Telecom has 170,000 corporate customers, with its major clients including leading Japanese firms such as the Japan Railway group, Nissan Motor Co. and All Nippon Airways Co.
Softbank President Masayoshi Son told a news conference, "There is vital significance in the fact that the latest acquisition has added the trust Japan Telecom has enjoyed among its customers to Softbank.""From now on, we will wage a swift marketing campaign in the field for corporate customers," Son said.
Softbank is eying using the vast telecommunications networks of Japan Telecom as it plans to shortly enter the telecom business based on optical fiber networks.
At present, Japan Telecom runs its own network of 12,000 kilometers of optical fiber lines.
Japan Telecom sought a merger with KDDI Corp.'s fixed-phone business last fall, but the proposal was rejected by KDDI.
Japan Telecom posted 340.1 billion yen in revenues from the fixed-line phone business in the year to March 2003, the most recent figure available. Net profit for the year totaled 15.8 billion yen.
As demand for fixed-line services continues to decline, Japan Telecom is finding it increasingly difficult to compete against industry leader Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. on its own, the observers say.
-----
To see more of Kyodo News International, go to http://www.kyodonews.com
(c) 2004, Kyodo News International, Tokyo. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.
SFTBF, 9984, 9434, 9433, ALNPY, 9202, NSANY, 7201, RNO, NTT, 9432,
Related Articles
- The Indian Fixed Telecoms Market Was Worth $8.9 Billion at the End Of 2006
- Faroese Telecom Chooses BroadSoft to Deliver Pioneering Fixed-Mobile Convergence Voice Solution for the Enterprise
- Gas Line Fixes Go Underground
- Eschelon Telecom, Inc. Now Offering a Full Line of Business Telephone Systems in Phoenix
- Japan Telecom Implements Cisco Optical Platform for New Telephone Service; Builds Backbone Network for the New ''Otoku Line'' Fixed Telephone Service
- China's Telecom Giant to Earn 2 Billion Dollars From Overseasmarket
- Softbank to Introduce Lowest Fixed-Line Phone Rates
- KDDI to Launch Discount Fixed-Line Internet Phone Service
- Softbank to Start Cut-Rate Fixed-Phone Service in Dec.
- Vodafone Says to Sell Japan Telecom for 261.3 B. Yen
 |
 |
User Comments (0)
RSS Feeds