We hereby notify that on this day Rakuten, Inc. (“Rakuten,” Chairman and CEO: Hiroshi Mikitani, Head Office: Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo) received an answer from the Japan Fair Trade Commission about an application pertaining to the alignment of Yahoo Japan Corporation and Google Inc., pursuant to Article 45, Paragraph 1 of the Act on Prohibition of Private Monopolization and Maintenance of Fair Trade. 

We believe that the alignment of these two firms requires further in-depth discussions and review by relevant parties to encourage the continuous sound development of the Japanese internet services market.