Rakuten Group Inc. plunged its most in more than three years after Reuters reported the internet company was in the final stages of talks to raise about ¥300 billion ($2.2 billion) through an offering of new shares.
Shares fell 9.1% on Monday, in Rakuten’s biggest drop since March 2020. The Japanese ecommerce company has sought to shore up capital depleted by its struggling mobile unit. Details of the deal may change, depending on share price moves, Reuters said, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter.
“We have been considering various measures regarding our financial strategy, including what has been reported, but we have not made any decisions at this time,” Rakuten said in a statement.
Rakuten’s foray into Japan’s saturated mobile market is bleeding cash while it fights to woo customers away from bigger rivals NTT Docomo Inc., KDDI Corp. and SoftBank Corp. The three together command more than 95% of Japan’s market, and have been cutting prices, limiting Rakuten’s appeal as a low-cost carrier. Rakuten had around 2% of mobile contracts in Japan at the end of December, according to the country’s communications ministry.
Rakuten last week said it was selling the rest of its stake in retailer Seiyu Holdings Co. to investment firm KKR & Co. for about ¥22 billion.
The company has yet to secure spectrum allocation best-suited for connectivity inside buildings and is facing the high cost of building out 4G base stations to supply better connectivity.
(Updates with Rakuten’s statement)
