SoftBank

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
SoftBank Corporation
ソフトバンク株式会社
Type Public
Traded as TYO: 9984
OTC Pink: SFTBF
Industry Telecommunications
Founded September 3, 1981 (1981-09-03)
Headquarters Tokyo, Japan
Key people Masayoshi Son
(Chairman & CEO)
Products Fixed line and mobile telephony, Internet services, digital television
Revenue Increase ¥3.202 trillion (2012)[1]
Operating income Increase ¥625.3 billion (2012)[1]
Net income Increase ¥313.7 billion (2012)[1]
Total assets Increase ¥4.899 trillion (2012)[1]
Total equity Increase ¥937.5 billion (2012)[1]
Employees 62,710 (2012)[1]
Subsidiaries SoftBank Mobile
SoftBank Telecom
SoftBank BB (ja)
Sprint Corporation (80% as of August 6, 2013 [2])
SB Creative
Yahoo! Japan (~35%)
GungHo Online Entertainment (58.5%)[3]
Willcom (100%)
Website www.softbank.co.jp

SoftBank Corp. (ソフトバンク株式会社 Sofutobanku Kabushiki-gaisha) is a Japanese telecommunications and Internet corporation, with operations in broadband, fixed-line telecommunications, e-commerce, Internet, broadmedia, technology services, finance, media and marketing, and other businesses.

SoftBank was established in Tokyo, Japan on September 3, 1981, and had a market capitalization of approximately US$43.52 billion in March 2011.

SoftBank's corporate profile includes various other companies such as Japanese broadband company SoftBank BB, data center company IDC Frontier, gaming company GungHo Online Entertainment, and the publishing company SB Creative. Additionally, it has various partnerships in Japanese subsidiaries of foreign companies such as Yahoo!, E-Trade, Ustream.tv, EF Education First and Morningstar. SBI Group is a Japanese financial services company that began in 1999 as a branch of SoftBank.[4]

SoftBank was the only official carrier of the iPhone in Japan until the release of iPhone 4S when it became available on au by KDDI as well.[5]

On October 14, 2012, SoftBank announced to acquire 70 percent of the U.S. telecommunications company Sprint Nextel Corporation for $20.1 billion.[6] The deal officially was approved by the FCC on July 5, 2013 for $21.6 billion of 78 percent shares which $5 billion of it is for the capital.[7][8] On August 6, 2013, SoftBank enacted a transaction that purchased approximately 2 percent more shares of Sprint Corporation which now has SoftBank having an 80 percent stake in Sprint Corporation.[2]

Timeline

  • 1995 – Bought COMDEX from The Interface Group
  • 1999 – Allowed organizers of COMDEX to restrict admission of media, creating a spiraling effect
  • 2001 – Sold COMDEX to Key3Media, a spin-off of Ziff Davis
  • January 28, 2005 – SoftBank becomes the owner of the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, a Nippon Professional Baseball team.
  • March 17, 2006 – SoftBank announces its agreement to buy Vodafone Japan, giving it a stake in Japan's $78 billion mobile market.
  • Early April, 2006 – SoftBank completed the purchase of 23% of Betfair, an Internet betting exchange.
  • October 1, 2006 – Vodafone Japan changes its corporate name, mobile phone brand name, and its mobile phone domain name to SoftBank Mobile, SoftBank, and [mb.softbank.jp] respectively.[9]
  • January 28, 2008 – It was announced that SoftBank and Tiffany & Co. collaborated in making a limited 10 model-only cellphone. This cellphone contains more than 400 platinum diamond, totalling more than 20 carat. The cost is said to be more than 100,000,000 yen.[10]
  • June 4, 2008 – SoftBank Mobile announced partnership with Apple and brought the iPhone (3G) to Japan later in 2008 [11]
  • February 3, 2010 – SoftBank acquired 13.7% in Ustream with the option to increase shares to 30% by July 2011.[12]
  • October 1, 2010 – Ayumi Hamasaki becomes the commercial spokesperson.[13]
  • October 3, 2012 – Masayoshi Son announced the take over of its competitor eAccess [14]
  • October 15, 2012 – SoftBank announced plans to take control of Sprint Nextel by purchasing a 70% stake for $20 billion.[15]
  • January 7, 2013 – SoftBank announced that eAccess became a wholly owned subsidiary effective January 1, 2013.
  • July 1, 2013 – SoftBank announced that Willcom became a wholly owned subsidiary effective July 1, 2013 after termination of rehabilitation proceedings.
  • July 10, 2013 – SoftBank completes acquisition of Sprint Nextel Corporation for $21.6 billion for 78% stake in the company. The new company is now known as the Sprint Corporation.
  • August 6, 2013 – SoftBank purchases approximately 2% more shares of Sprint Corporation, increasing its ownership stake in the company to 80%.

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 "SoftBank Data Book 2010". Retrieved October 26, 2011. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Additional Purchases of Sprint Corporation Shares". SoftBank. August 6, 2013. Retrieved August 30, 2013. 
  3. ↑ http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/189308/Japans_SoftBank_acquires_Puzzle__Dragons_publisher_GungHo.php
  4. ↑ Corporate history, JP: SBI .
  5. ↑ "SoftBank reaches deal with Apple to sell iPhone handsets in Japan this year", International Herald Tribune (The New York Times), 2008-06-04 .
  6. ↑ Market day, "Softbank to buy 70 percent stake in Sprint – sources", NBC News, 2012-10-14 .
  7. ↑ Bohn, Dieter (2013-07-05). "FCC officially approves SoftBank buyout of Sprint and Sprint buyout of Clearwire". The Verge. Retrieved 2013-07-10. 
  8. ↑ "Softbank to Invest $16 Billion over 2013/2014". Howard forums. Retrieved July 30, 2013. 
  9. ↑ "ボーダフォン、メールのドメイン名も「ソフトバンク」へ──10月1日から" (in Japanese). ITmedia Mobile. 2006-07-13. Retrieved 2013-07-02. 
  10. ↑ "上戸彩：超高価ケータイ「ないしょにしてね」" (in Japanese). Sports Nippon. Archived from the original on 2008-01-30. Retrieved 2008-01-29. 
  11. ↑ "念願のiPhoneを獲得した舞台裏　ソフトバンク、トラウマ乗り越える" (in Japanese). 2008-06-06. Retrieved 2008-06-07. 
  12. ↑ "Softbank profit soars; buys stake in Ustream", Japan Today, February 3, 2010 .
  13. ↑ Head lines, JP: Yahoo 
  14. ↑ Santos, Alexis (2012-10-03). "Softbank to acquire competitor eAccess, expand LTE network by 50 percent". Engadget. Retrieved 2013-07-02. 
  15. ↑ "Softbank to Buy 70 Percent Stake in Sprint: Sources". CNBC. Retrieved October 15, 2012. 

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to SoftBank.
Group companies
Related Articles
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.