Is it true that there are no capital gains taxes for Hong Kong residents? Even the US IRAs suffer an eventual tax that is actually worse than long term capital gains taxes of 20% because any money withdrawn from a US IRA is taxed as ordinary income. Federal and local taxes can approach 50%.
For the record, Softbank closed at $855 in the US and $877 in Tokyo.
Microsoft is planning a Japanese IPO of Carpoint. Softbank owns 45% of Carpoint Japan. I think they are losing money and expect to continue for another few years. The Carpoint business model does not appear to be as favorable to the consumer as Carorder.com or Greenlight.com here in the US (These companies subsidize their car sales to build volume.) Also, there seems to be a misplaced decimal point on the Softbank price quoted in the article:
Microsoft's CarPoint Plans Japan IPO to Improve Funds, Image
Microsoft's CarPoint Plans Japan IPO to Improve Funds, Image
Tokyo, Jan. 25 (Bloomberg) -- CarPoint K.K., the Japanese
operation of Microsoft's MSN CarPoint online car-buying service,
will offer shares to the public in 2000 as it hopes to make a
turnaround in three to four years, the company's president told
Bloomberg News.
Carpoint, which launched its auto sales site in Japan in
November, expects the company to be in the red in the first two
to three years, but hopes an IPO will enhance the company's image
and act as an incentive for employees, President Saburo Kikuchi
said.
Carpoint, 45 percent owned by Softbank Corp., will start car
assessment service next month, open a used car sales site in
March and offer insurance and loan services by June, he said.
Kikuchi named the Tokyo Stock Exchange's Market of High-
growth and Emerging Stocks, known as Mothers, or Nasdaq Japan, a
local version of the dealer-run Nasdaq stock market in the U.S.,
set to open in mid-2000, as potential domestic markets for the
listing.
``We're already preparing to list shares, and we'll choose
the most appropriate market for us,' Kikuchi said. ``I know
people are going to wish they'd started this business a year from
now. Our site is like a department store where you see brands
like Louis Vuitton and Gucci and compare products.'
Carpoint's current main source of revenue is commissions
from dealers for passing along customers' requests made at the
Carpoint site. The company, established on Oct. 7, makes about
3,000 yen to 5,000 yen ($28 to $48) per customer. The site had
about 2,000 to 3,000 visitors in December who made requests
through Carpoint, or about 1 percent to 2 percent of its total
hits for the month.
Kikuchi said boosting Carpoint's capital, currently 840
million yen, is a key consideration. Microsoft owns 37 percent of
the company, with 10 percent held by Seven-Eleven Japan Co. and 8
percent by Yahoo Inc.
Carpoint has partnerships with companies including Nissan
Motor Co., Mitsubishi Motors Corp., Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd.,
BMW AG, Ford Japan Ltd. and PSA Peugeot Citroen, although
customers can still search nonpartner automakers' cars by making
requests to Carpoint via e-mail.
Toyota Motor Corp., Japan's largest automaker, has said it
won't join either Autobytel.com Inc. or CarPoint, the two biggest
U.S. online car shopping sites, while domestic rivals Honda Motor
Co. and Nissan, as well as import dealers affiliated with
Germany's Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, Porsche AG and Ford Motor
Co. have linked their sales networks to Autobytel.com Japan,
Autobytel.com's Japanese venture.
Softbank shares rose as much as 2,400 yen, or 3 percent, to
932,000. The shares recently traded at 92,100 yen. |
