Softbank: Yahoo Japan holding will not be sold

[gkanai]

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/fffc1006-d5e8-11dc-bbb2-0000779fd2ac.html?nclick_check=1

Softbank says Yahoo Japan holding will not be sold

Softbank, the Japanese telecommunications and internet group, yesterday said it had no intention of selling its 41 per cent stake in Yahoo Japan after Microsoft's $41.8bn bid for Yahoo, the US search engine group.

"We will consider the [Microsoft] bid in light of our overall Yahoo strategy," said Masayoshi Son, Softbank's president. "We have no intention of selling our Yahoo Japan stake."

Mr Son also said that Softbank, which owns 3.9 per cent of Yahoo, had no plans to take part in a counter-bid for the US company, which owns 33 per cent of Yahoo Japan.

[Charles]

Well why the hell would they sell, if MS is just going to drive the share price up?

[Mulboyne]

Son wouldn't mind a big lump of cash but, at the same time, Softbank's purchase of Vodafone's keitai business was premised on the leverage they could get through Yahoo Japan. Any sale would need some rock solid contracts to keep that relationship open. Apple must be thinking more deeply about it's iphone Japan partner if there is a possibility that Softbank and Microsoft could end up working together. Docomo is probably their choice but their negotiating position has been helped by the interest that Softbank has shown so far.

[Mulboyne]

It might be Yahoo who sells instead:

Americas Network: Yahoo may seek sale of Japan stake to raise funds

Yahoo is consider selling its stake in Yahoo Japan as a way to maximize value for shareholders, a Dow Jones report said, quoting local media. "Your board takes seriously its obligation to examine all value-creating steps it could take and continues to actively examine many of these now, including a potential spin-off of our Asia assets and a return of cash to stockholders," chairman Roy Bostock and CEO Jerry Yang said in the letter, which was sent ahead of the company's general shareholders' meeting on August 1. The letter was apparently referring to Yahoo's 33% equity holding in the Japanese subsidiary and alibaba.com, a company which operates internet business in China, the Dow Jones report further said. The letter sent by the Yahoo board is designed to urge shareholders to vote against a proposal made by Microsoft and billionaire investor Carl Icahn, the report added.

[Samurai_Jerk]

The $8.6 Billion Yahoo Dilemma Facing Japan's Second-Richest Man

Masayoshi Son has a $8.6 billion dilemma on his hands.

His SoftBank Group Corp. is the largest investor in Yahoo Japan Corp., controls several board seats and wields more power over the country’s most profitable website than anyone. That’s been possible because Marissa Mayer’s Yahoo Inc., the next biggest shareholder with 35.5 percent, has been happy to leave management to the nation’s second-richest man.

Now Yahoo is said to be considering asset sales, including possibly disposing of its $8.6 billion stake in the Japanese portal, which may force Son to spend money to maintain his grip on a company he already effectively controls. Those resources could be better used to shore up his struggling Sprint Corp. or other investments without adding to SoftBank’s existing $109.4 billion in long-term liabilities.