Japan's Internet Empires

[Mulboyne]

IHT: Internet firms build empires across Japan
Among Japanese e-commerce companies, Livedoor has received all the attention lately, with its rarer-than-rare hostile takeover bid for a local TV company last month. But in reality, Livedoor is a minor player, overshadowed by the Internet conglomerates led by Yahoo and Softbank on one hand and Rakuten on the other. All three are trying to create e-commerce empires, expanding into financial services, travel agencies and even baseball...Yahoo has a market capitalization of 3 trillion yen , while Rakuten's is 1 trillion. Livedoor, which posted 5 billion in pretax profit on 31 billion in sales last year, is worth 280 billion. The leading Internet groups in Japan differentiate themselves from their international peers with a strategic refrain: synergy, synergy, synergy...more...

[Mulboyne]

StarOnline: Yahoo! Japan, two Japanese brokerages to set up online trading service
Yahoo! Japan has reached an agreement with two Japanese brokerages to add stock trading and other financial services to the popular Internet portal's Web site, the Internet company said Wednesday. The deal with Nikko Cordial Securities Inc. and E*Trade Securities Co. is expected to be formally signed later this week, and services could be launched in August, Yahoo! Japan said. Users of the Net portal's Japanese-language Web site would be able to open accounts at the two brokerages and trade stocks online, it said. The announcement by Yahoo! Japan, which is owned by Tokyo-based broadband company Softbank Corp., follows its move earlier this year to enter the banking sector through a tie up with Japan's Aozora Bank. It also pressures Net rivals Livedoor Co. and Rakuten Inc., which were early entrants in offering online investment services in Japan. At the Tokyo Stock Exchange midday Wednesday, Yahoo! Japan's shares had risen 2.28 percent to 224,000 yen.