Press Releases 2021
Notice Concerning Acquisition of LINE MOBILE Corporation Shares
and Making it a Wholly Owned Subsidiary
March 30, 2021
SoftBank Corp.
As announced by SoftBank Corp. (hereinafter, the “Company”) in the “Notice Concerning Consideration of Acquiring 100% Ownership and Absorption-type Merger of LINE MOBILE Corporation by SoftBank Corp.” dated December 22, 2020, the Company has been considering making its consolidated subsidiary LINE MOBILE Corporation (hereinafter, “LINE MOBILE”) a wholly owned subsidiary and then implementing an absorption-type merger. At the meeting of the Board of Directors held today, the Company resolved to acquire all shares of LINE MOBILE and make it a wholly owned subsidiary, as follows.
LINE MOBILE and the Company will continue discussions concerning the absorption-type merger of LINE MOBILE by the Company. We will announce details as soon as the resolution regarding the absorption-type merger is completed.
1. Reasons for share acquisition
On March 17, 2021, the Company launched a 4G/5G*1 service plan under LINEMO, an online exclusive brand. In addition to providing unlimited use of messaging app LINE without consumption of monthly data allowance*2, all procedures, including signing up for the service plan, can be completed online with simple operations.
This has been achieved through detailed discussions, conducted between LINE Corporation and the Company, regarding new telecommunications services utilizing the LINE platform. Making LINE MOBILE a wholly owned subsidiary will be executed as part of this process and will be realized due in part to the business integration between LINE Corporation and Z Holdings Corporation in March 2021.
- [Notes]
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- *1Areas where 5G is available is limited, please confirm before signing up. To use 5G, a handset compatible with 5G is required.
- *2Data consumption related to usage of LINE talk, LINE call, etc. will not consume monthly data allowance. Certain services are not subject to unlimited use, including location info sharing via LINE talk, LINE LIVE, stamp shops, and browsing news articles. If you use paid content, a separate payment is required.
- *1
2. Outline of LINE Mobile Corporation
| (1) Name | LINE MOBILE Corporation |
|---|---|
| (2) Address | 4-1-6, Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo |
| (3) Name and title of representative | Masahiko Tsutsui, Representative Director & President |
| (4) Nature of business | Provision of MVNO service LINE MOBILE |
| (5) Share Capital | JPY 12,910 million (as of March 31, 2020) |
| (6) Founded | February 26, 2016 |
| (7) Number of shares issued | 1,108,679 shares |
| (8) Fiscal year end | March 31 |
| (9) Number of employees | 99 (standalone basis, as of March 31, 2020) |
| (10) Major shareholders and shareholding ratios | SoftBank Corp. 59.95% LINE Corporation 40.05% (As of September 30, 2020) |
3. Outline of the counterparty to share acquisition
| (1) Name | LINE Corporation |
|---|---|
| (2) Address | 4-1-6 Shinjuku Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo |
| (3) Name and title of representative | Takeshi Idezawa, Representative Director and President |
| (4) Nature of business | Advertising service based on the mobile messenger application “LINE”, core businesses including the sales of stickers and game services, and strategic businesses including Fintech, AI, and commerce services |
| (5) Share Capital | JPY 34,201 million (as of March 1, 2021) |
| (6) Founded | December 13, 2019 |
4. Details of share acquisition
| (1) Number of shares held before change | 664,679 shares (Number of voting rights: 664,679) (Ratio of voting rights: 59.95%) |
|---|---|
| (2) Number of shares to be acquired | 444,000 shares (Number of voting rights: 444,000) (Ratio of voting rights: 40.05%) |
| (3) Number of shares held after change | 1,108,679 shares (Number of voting rights: 1,108,679) (Ratio of voting rights: 100%) |
- [Note]
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- *The acquisition price was determined through consultation with LINE Corporation, the transferor. The acquisition price is not disclosed due to an agreement with the transferor.
- *
5. Schedule
| (1) Conclusion of share acquisition agreement | April 2, 2021 (planned) |
|---|---|
| (2) Effective date of share acquisition | April 9, 2021 (planned) |
6. Forecasts
There have been no changes on SoftBank's consolidated financial result forecasts for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2021 from those announced in “Consolidated Financial Report For the Nine Months Ended December 31, 2020 (IFRS)” dated February 4, 2021.