List of acquisitions by Rakuten

The following is a list of investments and acquisitions made by Japanese electronic commerce and online retailing company Rakuten.

## Acquisitions

[edit]

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (December 2023)

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Date  | Company  | Business  | Country  | Value (USD)  | Comments  | References

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2002  | MyTrip.net  | Online auction |  United States | —  | Merged with Rakuten Travel  |
2005  | LinkShare | Online auction  |  United States | —  | Rebranded as Rakuten Marketing then as Rakuten Advertising.[1] | [2]
2010  | PriceMinister | Online retailer |  France | €200 million  |  | [3]
2010  | Buy.com | Online retailer  |  United States | US$250 million  |  | [4]
2011  | Ikeda  | E-commerce |  Brazil | —  | Renamed Rakuten Brazil  |
2011  | Tradoria  | E-commerce  |  Germany | —  | Rebranded as Rakuten Deutschland  |
2011  | Play.com | E-commerce  |  United Kingdom | £25 million  | Converted into the points-based loyalty program Rakuten.co.uk  | [5]
2012  | Kobo | E-book reader |  Canada | US$315 million  | Converted into the points-based loyalty program Rakuten.co.uk  | [6]
2012  | Wuaki.tv | VOD service |  Spain |  | Rebranded to Rakuten TV in 2017  |
2012  | Alpha Direct Services  | Online retail delivery  |  France |  |  | [7]
2012  | Aquafadas | Electronic publishing |  France |  | Rebranded as Rakuten DX in 2020  | [8][9]
2013  | Daily Grommet | Online marketplace |  |  | Rebranded as The Grommet  | [10][11]
2013  | Webgistix  | Service fulfillment |  United States |  |  | [12]
2013  | Viki | Streaming media |  Singapore |  |  | [13]
2014  | Viber Media | Voice messaging |  | US $905million  |  | [14]
2014  | DC Storm  | Marketing technology |  |  | Acquired by Rakuten Marketing.  | [15]
2014  | Slice  | E-commerce |  |  | E-commerce company that provides online shopping services and sells business intelligence based on digital commerce measurement.  | [16]
2014  | Ebates | Cashback website |  | US $952 million  | Changed name to Rakuten Rewards  | [17]
2015  | OverDrive, Inc. | Ebook wholesale distributor  |  | US $410 million  | Wholesale distributor of e-books and other digital content that serves libraries and retailers. Later purchased from Rakuten by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts in 2020.[18] | [19]
2016  | Bitnet  | Cryptocurrency wallet |  | US $410 million  | Used the assets to form Rakuten Blockhain Lab, a research facility that studies the blockchain.  | [20]
2018  | Curbside  | Retail pickup |  United States |  |  | [21]
2020  | Seiyu Group | Group of supermarkets |  Japan |  | Joint venture with KKR, acquiring 85% ownership.  | [22]
2020  | Voyagin | Online travel booking |  Japan |  | Name changed to Rakuten Travel Experiences. Had previously invested US$3.48 million.  | [23]
2021  | Altiostar | Radio access network |  | US$1 billion  | Previous investor of US$114 million in 2019 and acquiring an additional 17% stake for US$45 million in 2020.[24] | [25]

## Investments

[edit]

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (December 2023)

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Date  | Company  | Business  | Country  | Value (USD)  | Comments  | References

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2011  | Ozon.ru | Online Retailer  |  Russia | —  | Unknown minority stake. Total of $100 million combined with other investors.  | [26]
2012  | Pinterest | Social media service |  United States | —  | Led $100 million funding round with partners including Andreessen Horowitz, Bessemer Venture Partners, FirstMark Capital, and others.  | [27]
2013  | Carousell | B2C and B2B marketplace  |  Singapore | —  | Rakuten led a US$800,000 seed round of funding.  | [28]
2015  | Lyft | Ridesharing company  |  United States | —  | Led US$530 million funding round for 12% stake in company.  | [29]
2015  | Cabify | Ridesharing company  |  Spain | —  | Initial US$3 million investment in 2015 and additional US$92 million in 2016.  | [30]
2017  | Careem | Super-app |  United Arab Emirates | —  | US$30 million in financing for the company.  | [31]
2017  | MetroResidences  | Real estate investing |  | —  | US$4.2 million.  | [32]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Rakuten Launches Rakuten Advertising as a Premier Destination for Brands to Discover Customers and Engage Audiences". MarTech Series. 12 February 2020. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
2. ^ Toto, Serkan, "Japan's Rakuten: Can The Biggest E-Commerce Site You Never Heard Of Become a Threat for Amazon Globally?", TechCrunch, Sunday, July 5th, 2009
3. ^ Wauters, Robin (2010-06-17). "Rakuten to acquire France's PriceMinister for approximately €200 million". TechCrunch (Eu.techcrunch.com). Retrieved 2011-10-04.
4. ^ "Japan's Rakuten to Acquire Buy.com", The Wall Street Journal, May 21, 2010
5. ^ Published Wednesday, Sep 21 2011, 12:43 BST (2011-09-21). "Play.com bought by Japanese firm Rakuten for £25m — Media News". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2011-10-04.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
6. ^ Strauss, Marina (8 November 2011). "$315-million Kobo takeover deal a windfall for Indigo". The Globe and Mail.
7. ^ Rakuten Acquires Alpha Direct Services, Rakuten corporate blog, 7 November 2012.Retrieved 27 December 2012
8. ^ "Kobo Acquires Aquafadas to bring more Comics and Kids Books into Digital Form". goodereader.com. 2012-10-10. Retrieved 2015-06-01.
9. ^ "Rakuten Launches 'Rakuten DX' to Drive Creativity and Innovation in Digital Experiences Ahead of Expected App Boom". MarTech Series. 23 November 2020. Retrieved 2020-11-24.
10. ^ Swisher, Kara (2013-05-14). "Japan's Rakuten Ups Its Stake in the Rebranded Grommet". allthingsd.com. Retrieved 2013-09-19.
11. ^ Online Marketplaces - Don’t call me ‘daily’: The Grommet drops the chronological element in its rebranding. Internet Retailer. Retrieved on 2013-09-21.
12. ^ Rakuten Acquires U.S.-based Logistics Company Webgistix | | Fulfilling eCommerce. Webgistix.com (2013-06-05). Retrieved on 2013-09-19.
13. ^ "Rakuten extends its focus on entertainment after buying Singapore-based video service Viki". The Next Web. Retrieved September 2, 2013.
14. ^ "Japanese Internet Giant Rakuten Acquires Viber For $900M". TechCrunch. February 13, 2014. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
15. ^ "Rakuten Marketing Acquires DC Storm for Omni-channel Attribution, Measurement and Tag Management". Reuters. May 29, 2014. Archived from the original on June 1, 2014. Retrieved June 4, 2014.
16. ^ Bensinger, Greg (November 11, 2014). "Japan's Rakuten Buys Startup as It Mulls U.S. Entry". Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04.`{{cite news}}`: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
17. ^ Mayumi Negishi, "Japan's Rakuten Set to Buy U.S. Shopping Website Ebates", The Wall Street Journal, September 7, 2014.
18. ^ "Rakuten Sells Overdrive to Private Investment Firm". The Digital Reader. 2019-12-25. Retrieved 2021-04-09.
19. ^ "Rakuten to Buy OverDrive". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 2017-02-26.
20. ^ Jon Russell, "Rakuten buys struggling bitcoin startup to create a 'blockchain research lab'", TechCrunch, August 18, 2016.
21. ^ Schubarth, Cromwell (8 June 2018). "Japanese e-commerce giant buys Palo Alto retail pickup startup". Silicon Valley Business Journal. American City Business Journals. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
22. ^ "KKR and Rakuten to buy 85% of Seiyu from Walmart". Nikkei Asia. Retrieved 2020-11-17.
23. ^ Lee, Terence (1 July 2015). "Rakuten buys tour marketplace Voyagin to gear up for 2020 Tokyo Olympics travel bonanza". Tech in Asia. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
24. ^ Le Maistre, Ray (4 August 2021). "Rakuten acquires Altiostar at $1B+ valuation". Televcom TC. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
25. ^ Phadnis, Shilpa (11 August 2021). "After acquisition by Rakuten, Altiostar to further expand in India". Times of India. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
26. ^ "Internet Retailer Ozon.ru Gets Record $100M Investment". The Moscow Times. 2011-09-08. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
27. ^ "Exclusive: Japan’s Rakuten Wins the Heart of Pinterest in $100M Funding Race With $1.5B Valuation", All things digital, 17 May 2012
28. ^ Catherine Shu, "Marketplace App Carousell Raises $800K Seed Round Led By Rakuten", TechCrunch, November 13, 2013.
29. ^ Mike Isaac, "Hiroshi Mikitani, Rakuten Founder, Joins Lyft's Board", The New York Times, June 23, 2015.
30. ^ Yoko Kubota, "Rakuten Raises Investment in Latin America Ride-Hailing App Cabify", The Wall Street Journal, April 19, 2016.
31. ^ Katie Roof, "PayPal leads $30 million round in Acorns investing app", TechCrunch, April 21, 2016.
32. ^ Jon Russell, "Rakuten invests $2.8M in 'Airbnb for business travel' startup MetroResidences", TechCrunch, April 10, 2017.

## External links

[edit]

* Rakuten.com corporate history