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![]() | Text and/or other creative content from Rakuten was copied or moved into List of acquisitions by Rakuten. The former page's history now serves to provide attribution for that content in the latter page, and it must not be deleted as long as the latter page exists. |
No mention of Altiostar acquisition; add to list? 82.21.55.166 ( talk) 82.21.55.166 ( talk) 23:41, 27 November 2022 (UTC)
Here is the rest of the acquisition list copied from the page Rakuten. Shortened up that section (which could likely be eliminated altogether and merged into history).
In September 2014, it was revealed that Rakuten would acquire US rebate site operator Ebates Inc. for approximately US$952 million to give the company more access to US consumers and help it grow abroad, as it takes on rivals such as Amazon.com and Alibaba. Ebates offers coupons and cash rebates to customers who shop at its more than 1,700 partner retailers. [1]
In March 2015, Rakuten announced the acquisition of OverDrive, Inc., a wholesale distributor of e-books and other digital content that serves libraries and retailers, based in Cleveland, Ohio. The acquisition price was $410 million in cash. [2] In 2019 private equity firm KKR announced it would be purchasing Overdrive from Rakuten. In June 2020 the acquisition was finalized. [3]
Since 2015, Rakuten has invested in several ride-hailing services. In March 2015, Rakuten led a $530 million round of venture financing for Lyft, spending $300 million for a 12% stake in the company. [4] [5] In April 2016, Rakuten announced it would invest an additional $92 million in Cabify, which was founded in 2012 in Spain and is one of the largest ride-hailing services in Latin America. Rakuten previously invested $3 million in Cabify in 2015. [6] Rakuten led a $500 million Series E round of funding in Middle Eastern transportation startup Careem, which closed out in June 2017. [7]
In April 2016, Rakuten participated in a $30 million round of financing for the investing app Acorns. [8]
In August 2016, Rakuten confirmed that it had acquired the assets of bitcoin wallet startup Bitnet, with the assets to be used to create a research facility, Rakuten Blockchain Lab, based in Belfast that will explore the potential of the blockchain. [9]
In April 2017, Rakuten invested US$2.4 million in Singapore-based MetroResidences, which allows homeowners to rent their properties out to companies and corporate tenants. [10]
In January 2018, the Group purchased Asahi Fire and Marine from Japanese bank Nomura for an estimated 45 billion yen. This will be the first foray for Rakuten into the general insurance market, and Asahi will become a wholly-owned subsidiary. The company provides fire, automotive and accident insurance to consumer and corporate clients. [11]
In June 2018, Rakuten purchased Palo Alto-based retail pickup startup Curbside Inc. [12] In October 2018, CafeX Communications announced that Rakuten Communications Corp., the telecommunications company within Japan-based Rakuten Group, has launched "Connect Live", a cloud service powered by CafeX that enables business users to collaborate more easily in web browsers and mobile devices. Employees, customers and online visitors can simply click a link in a web browser to connect without needing to download new software or step through a sign-in process. Attendees can also join from mobile devices too.
In December 2019, Rakuten was reportedly selling OverDrive, Inc. to private equity investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts. The price of the sale was not disclosed, though Rakuten said it would recognize about $365.6 million in profit from the sale in the first quarter of 2020. OverDrive's purchase from Rakuten was engineered by KKR's Richard Sarnoff, a one-time executive at Random House who also was president of Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments until leaving for KKR in 2011. [13]
In February 2020, Rakuten Marketing was rebranded as Rakuten Advertising. [14] That month, Rakuten also sold its US$1.4 billion worth of stakes in various tech companies, including its entire shares in Pinterest. [15]
In November 2020, Rakuten teamed up with KKR to acquire 85% of Seiyu Group, the Japanese nationwide retail chain owned by Walmart. [16]
References
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