Rakuten raises stake in eBank

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Rakuten Inc will raise its equity stake in eBank, Japan’s top online bank, from 46.39% to 67.22%. The increase will be conducted in two stages.

Rakuten will buy roughly 330,000 shares to be issued by eBank in a private placement, paying 9.99 billion yen to lift its stake to 56.48%. It will also spin off the loan division of fully owned subsidiary Rakuten Credit Inc and merge it with eBank. In conjunction with the integration, which will be completed April 1, eBank will issue about 580,000 shares to Rakuten Credit, which will transfer them to Rakuten in lieu of a dividend payout.