Internet
ò Yahoo Japan Corp announced its decision to increase its stake in internet food delivery firm, Yumenomachi Souzou-Iinkai, in a bid to expand its food-related business. The company said it will be buying 3,200 shares at Ñ401,190 each ($3,313), via a tender offer. Yumenomachi Souzou-Iinkai is listed on the Osaka Securities Exchange's Hercules board.
ò Industry sources said that Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), Japan's biggest bank, has plans to increase its stake in online brokerage affiliate kabu.com Securities through a tender offer. Some sources said JapanÆs biggest bank is looking to getting more control of the brokerage firm, with other reports claiming that the bank intends to raise its stake to around 40 percent from the 30 percent it currently holds. According to an MUFG spokesman, the company has not decided on anything. The company said it was targeting a group net profit of Ñ1.1 trillion ($9.1 billion) in the business year to March 2010, up 26 percent from a forecast Ñ870 billion ($7.1 billion) this year.
Mobile/Wireless
ò eMobile announced that it will launch fixed-rate broadband wireless services next month and put its keyboard-equipped handset into the bargain. With the move, eMobile, a wholly owned subsidiary of broadband service operator eAccess, will be the first new company to tap into Japan's increasingly competitive wireless market in 13 years. The new Em-One handset was developed with Sharp Corp. and Microsoft Corp. The company said eMobile's services would begin March 31, within Tokyo's 23 wards, central parts of Nagoya, Osaka and Kyoto, with the monthly fixed-rate basic charge placed at Ñ5,980 ($49). Under the offering, a two-year contract that includes the price of the handset is valued at Ñ39,800 ($329).
Media, Entertainment and Gaming
ò According to data from Media Create, the launch of Sega's Virtual Fighter 5 for the PlayStation 3 was the reason for the consoleÆs biggest hit of the year. The title launched on Feb. 8 topped the Japan software charts for that week with sales of almost 50,000 copies, with the company ascribing to the launch the jump in sales of the console during the week of Feb. 5, to 23,431 units from 18,727 units in the previous week. The report said sales of Nintendo Co. Ltd.'s Wii also jumped to 78,550 units for the week, according to the estimates. Nintendo's handheld DS Lite device remained on top of the hardware sales ranking at 201,770 units. Sony Computer EntertainmentÆs PlayStation Portable posted sales of 32,175 units, according to Media Create. Software titles for new-generation consoles occupied the top three positions for the week. Following Virtual Fighter 5 at number one were Wii Sports and Wii Play in second and third place, respectively. Media Create receives actual sales data from around 3,000 stores across Japan and uses that to estimate nationwide sales.
Hardware
ò TDK Corp, the world's largest maker of magnetic tapes, revealed its decision to go into a capital tie-up with Tabuchi Electric next month in a bid to enhance its electronic component business. Under the agreement, TDK said it will acquire a 14.2 percent stake in Tabuchi, a leading maker of high-voltage transformers and power supplies, through a third-party allocation of new shares, with TDK spending Ñ810 million ($6.6 million) to acquire 5 million new shares in Osaka-based Tabuchi. After the acquisition, TDK is expected to become Tabuchi's biggest shareholder.
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