By Takashi Umekawa and Sam Nussey
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese e-commerce firm Rakuten Inc said on Friday it would sell an 8.32% stake to postal and banking giant Japan Post Holdings Co Ltd, deepening a logistics tie-up in the face of competition from rivals such as Amazon.com Inc.
Rakuten, which plunged to an operating loss in 2020, is under pressure on multiple fronts as it battles Amazon in e-commerce and takes on Japan’s cash-rich telcos with its own mobile network.
“Rakuten is the best partner for us, as it has advanced digital technology,” Japan Post Holdings Chief Executive Hiroya Masuda told a news conference.
Friday’s deal makes Japan Post the biggest shareholder in Rakuten outside the founding Mikitani family.
“As tech giants grow in power we’re combining our strength,” said Rakuten’s chief executive, Hiroshi Mikitani.
Last year Rakuten acquired a 20% stake in Walmart Inc’s Japanese supermarket unit. It has had a partnership with the unit, Seiyu, since 2018.
This month, chat app operator Line merged with SoftBank’s internet business Yahoo Japan in a deal first announced in 2019.
Shares of both Rakuten and Japan Post rose in afternoon trade in Tokyo after Reuters and other media reported the tie-up.
($1 = 108.7000 yen)
(Reporting by Takashi Umekawa, Sam Nussey, Tim Kelly and Noriyuki Hirata; Additional reporting by Chang-Ran Kim; Editing by Gerry Doyle and Christopher Cushing)
