Rakuten Group, Inc. (Head Office: Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, Chairman and CEO: Hiroshi Mikitani; hereinafter “the Company”) announces that the Board of Directors resolved today its consolidated subsidiary Rakuten Card Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Masayuki Hosaka; hereinafter “Rakuten Card”) and Mizuho Financial Group, Inc. (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President & Group CEO: Masahiro Kihara; hereinafter “Mizuho FG") have today agreed to enter into a strategic capital and business alliance between the two companies (hereinafter "the Alliance").
In conjunction with this Alliance, the Company and Mizuho FG concluded a share transfer agreement today, with the Company transferring 14.99% of Rakuten Card’s common stock to Mizuho FG (hereinafter the "Share Transfer"). Even after the Share Transfer, Rakuten Card will remain a subsidiary of the Company, and will continue to be an important consolidated subsidiary embedded in the Rakuten Ecosystem. In addition, the Company and Mizuho FG signed a shareholders agreement (hereinafter, together with the Share Transfer agreement, the "Agreement") on the same date.
- Background and significance of this alliance
Since the "Announcement Regarding Conclusion of Strategic Capital and Business Alliance between Rakuten Securities Holdings and Mizuho Securities” on October 7, 2022 and the "Announcement Regarding Strengthening of Strategic Capital and Business Alliance between Rakuten Securities Holdings and Mizuho Securities” on November 9, 2023, Mizuho FG has been deepening its efforts, including collaboration between the two Groups, to build new retail business models that combine both online and offline aspects in the asset building and asset management fields between Rakuten Securities Holdings, Inc. and Mizuho Securities Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Yoshiro Hamamoto; hereinafter "Mizuho Securities"). To further grow Rakuten Card, the core business of our FinTech operations, we aim to accelerate our collaboration with Mizuho FG and pursue growth opportunities in the corporate sector, which is expected to expand in the future, in addition to our strong business for individual customers. The Company believes that deepening and expanding its partnership with Mizuho FG, which has a broad customer base, will not only expand Rakuten Card's business areas and achieve sustainable growth, but also aim to further expand and develop the entire Rakuten Fintech ecosystem with Rakuten Card at its core, which will contribute to enhancing the corporate value of the Company. - Details of capital and business alliance, etc.
(1) Details of the business partnership
The Company also today signed separate business agreements with Rakuten Card and Mizuho FG companies. For details, please see the press release "Rakuten Group, Rakuten Card, Mizuho Financial Group, Mizuho Bank, UC Card and Orient Corporation Form Business Alliance to Transform Digital Payments in Japan." By bringing together the strengths of each company, we aim to provide customers with more convenient and advantageous shopping experiences, and provide merchants with services that contribute to acquiring new customers and increasing sales. We will work together to create new innovative payment services that are unlike anything currently in the market. Through these efforts, we believe we can create new added value for both customers and merchants, stimulate consumption, and promote corporate growth, thereby contributing to the improvement of the corporate value of each company and ultimately to the development of the Japanese economy.
(2) Transfer amount and shareholding status before and after the transfer
Under this Agreement, the Company will transfer 14.99% of Rakuten Card's common stock to Mizuho FG. The transfer amount is expected to be 164,997 million yen.