Japan's Rakuten Group scraps plan to list Rakuten Securities (updated)

Rakuten

30/01/2025 08:53

(Adds context in paragraphs 3-5 and 7)
    By Anton Bridge
       TOKYO, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Japan's Rakuten Group  4755.T 
has decided not to seek a listing for Rakuten Securities on the
Tokyo Stock Exchange, it said on Thursday, adding it would
instead deepen collaboration with major shareholder Mizuho
Securities and other firms within the Mizuho Group  8411.T .    
    The struggling e-commerce giant had said in November that it
had temporarily withdrawn its application to have the securities
unit go public, but that it planned to reapply at an appropriate
time.
    In 2023 Mizuho said it would invest 87 billion yen ($560
million) in Rakuten Securities, lifting the group's stake to 49%
from just under 20%. It agreed to acquire 15% of Rakuten's
credit card unit for 165 billion yen ($1.07 billion) last
November.
    Rakuten has conducted a series of fundraising measures in
recent years - including asset sales, the listing of
subsidiaries and raising equity - to pay off debt it accumulated
to fund its mobile network, which launched in 2020.
    At its third-quarter earnings last November, Rakuten
reported operating profit of 538 million yen ($3.48 million),
its first quarter in the black since 2020, as losses at its
mobile unit shrunk.
    The group has 400 billion yen worth of bonds to redeem by
the end of 2025, LSEG data shows.
    ($1 = 154.4900 yen)

 (Reporting by Chang-Ran Kim and Anton Bridge; Editing by Himani
Sarkar and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
 ((ran.kim@thomsonreuters.com; +81-3-4520-1228;))