LY, Bain sweeten bid for Japan's Kakaku.com, topping EQT offer
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TOKYO, May 14 : SoftBank-backed LY Corp on Thursday said it and Bain Capital have lifted their bid for Kakaku.com, valuing the online marketplace at $4 billion and above a rival offer from Swedish investment firm EQT.
• LY, which owns messaging app LINE and Yahoo Japan, said they are now offering 3,232 yen per share in an all-cash deal. That is up from 3,000 yen per share they offered a week ago. EQT has also offered 3,000 yen per share in a deal backed by Kakaku.com's board announced on Tuesday.
• "Amid the current period of transformation driven by the rise of generative AI, the businesses operated by Kakaku.com...are considered to have extremely high strategic value," LY said.
• Kakaku.com shares were trading around 3,400 yen, down 0.5 per cent, indicating that some investors expect the bidding war to continue. LY shares were down 0.7 per cent.
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• Kakaku.com operates price comparison site Kakaku.com, restaurant review and reservation platform Tabelog and job search service Kyujin Box.
• Kakaku.com said on Tuesday when announcing that it was recommending EQT's offer, that Digital Garage and KDDI, which together hold 38.1 per cent of the company, had agreed to sell their shares.
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