August 27, 2004On August 27, 2004, Rakuten, Inc. announced that the company has entered into a letter of intent to acquire 100% of common shares of Aozora Card,Co.,Ltd. from existing shareholders: Aozora Bank, Ltd. 60%; Orix Credit Corp. 21% and Orix Corporation 19% for 7.4 billion yen. Aozora Card is engaged in the low-interest consumer loan business. Loans are targeted to middle-to-high income individuals through automated teller machines and the Internet. Two of the current shareholders, Aozora Bank and Orix Corporation, hold an option to repurchase up to 10% of outstanding shares. Closing of the acquisition is subject to customary conditions, and that if these conditions are met; the closing is expected to take place by the end of September 2004. (For full release, please refer to Japanese IR release.)