* Says to enter U.S. online market through acquisition
* Buy.com had revenue of $62.5 million in 2009
(Adds background)
TOKYO, May 20 (BestGrowthStock) – Japanese online mall operator
Rakuten (4755.Q: ) said on Thursday it will acquire Buy.com Inc
for $250 million, foraying into the U.S. market for the first
time as it steps up its push to expand overseas.
This year Rakuten announced a joint venture with China’s top
search engine Baidu (BIDU.O: ) to launch a virtual shopping mall
targeting the world’s largest online population and has said it
is also looking at opportunities to enter European and other
markets. [ID:nTOE60Q09K]
California-based Buy.com had revenue of $62.5 million in 2009
and has a client base of about 14 million for its electronic
commerce operations, Rakuten said in a statement.
Rakuten also runs operations in Taiwan and Thailand.
Rakuten, which also owns a stock brokerage, an online bank
and a professional Japanese baseball team, had an operating
profit of 56.6 billion yen ($617.6 million) in 2009, up 20
percent from a year earlier on revenue of 298 billion yen.
Prior to the announcement, Rakuten shares ended down 0.8
percent, in line with a fall in the Jasdaq market (.JSD: ).
Investment Basics
(Reporting by Taiga Uranaka; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
UPDATE 2-Rakuten to acquire Buy.com for $250 mln in US push
