Viber allows people to talk and text on mobile phones without paying a fee. His company also competes for online sales with Yahoo Japan Corp., whose biggest shareholder is billionaire Masayoshi Son’s SoftBank Corp. Mikitani is Japan’s third-richest man with a net worth of $9.2 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The stock has gained 5.95% this year, compared with a 9.1% drop in the broader Topix index. Rakuten rose 1.2% to close at ¥1,657 in Tokyo trading. In 2012, it acquired, a Europe-based video-on- demand and streaming service, and led a group that acquired a minority stake in Pinterest for $100 million.
Last year, Rakuten acquired digital content platform Viki Inc. Rakuten controlled 27.7% of Japan’s Internet retailing market as of last year, according to data from researcher Euromonitor International. Rakuten Ichiba, the Tokyo-based company’s most-popular service, connects merchants to customers shopping for toys, electronics and clothing as well as selling Japanese goods to customers overseas. This makes Viber the ideal total consumer engagement platform for Rakuten. Viber understands how people actually want to engage and have built the only service that truly delivers on all fronts, Mikitani said in a statement.
Rakuten wants to capitalize on Cyprus-based Viber’s free messaging, paid stickers and games to expand its current base of about 225 million members, he said. Rakuten had cash and near-cash items worth ¥345 billion ($3.4 billion) as of 30 September, almost quadruple the amount at the end of 2011, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The acquisition is being financed through bank borrowing and is expected to close in March, Mikitani said. This deal is probably aimed at linking the two. As smartphones become a more important communication tool than personal computers, Rakuten needs to find a way to link smartphones to its businesses, said Naoki Fujiwara, a Tokyo- based chief fund manager at Shinkin Asset Management Co.