Softbank gets Vodafone for ¥1.75 trillion | 日本のニュースを英語で読むならジャパンタイムズウィークリー


	UPDATE: Saturday, June 12, 2010 The Japan Times Weekly 2006年3月25日号（バックナンバー）

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Softbank gets Vodafone for ¥1.75 trillion

Softbank President and CEO Masayoshi Son

Softbank Corp. said March 17 that it has reached an agreement with Vodafone Group PLC to buy 97.7 percent of its Japanese unit for ¥1.75 trillion in a move that will allow it to acquire Vodafone K.K.'s 15 million users and its nationwide mobile communications network.

The buyout, the largest ever for a Japanese company, will transform the Internet and financial services firm into a comprehensive telecommunications company offering fixed-line and mobile telephony, and challenges the two leaders in the domestic mobile phone business -- NTT Docomo Inc. and KDDI Corp.

Softbank President and Chief Executive Officer Masayoshi Son said the deal will hopefully boost Softbank's annual sales to ¥2.5 trillion and increase the number of users of its phone services, fixed-line and mobile, to 26 million.

"It will be a tremendous advantage for us (to acquire Vodafone) compared with starting from scratch," said Son, who had considered starting a mobile phone business on his own.

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