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To: Spytrdr who wrote (7320)	6/24/1999 8:45:00 AM
From: Spytrdr	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 13953

Japan's Softbank Unveils Ventures to Sell Financial Advice, Toys Over the Internet An INTERACTIVE JOURNAL News Roundup June 24, 1999 TOKYO -- Japan's Softbank Corp. announced Thursday that unit Softbank Finance will set up a joint venture in Japan with DirectAdvice.com of the U.S. Japan's Softbank Is Shaking Up a Once-Sheltered Financial System (June 21) The new company, E-Advisor, will provide asset management advice to individual investors over the Internet. Softbank Finance will have a 67% stake in the joint venture, which will be capitalized at 300 million yen ($2.5 million), and DirectAdvice.com will have a 22% stake. Other companies will have a combined stake of 11%. Connecticut-based DirectAdvice.com provides online financial planning services. Softbank invested an undisclosed amount in DirectAdvice.com in December 1998. The move is the latest push into computer-based businesses by the Japanese company, originally a software distributor. Through a string of investments in U.S. concerns such as Yahoo! Inc., Softbank has become a force in Silicon Valley. Its plan now is to link a raft of financial services through the hub of Yahoo Japan Corp. into perhaps the most comprehensive financial supermarket on the Web. Venture Created to Sell Toys on the Web Separately, Softbank announced that it, Yahoo Japan and six Japanese toy companies will set up a joint venture to sell toys over the Internet. E-shopping! Toys Corp., which will be capitalized at 200 million yen, will be established in July. Softbank will have a 52.5% stake in the venture. Japanese toy wholesaler Happinet Corp. will be the second-largest shareholder, with a 17.5% stake. Other toy companies involved in the venture include Bandai Corp. and Tomy Co. Customers will be able to receive the toys as early as two days after placing their orders, the companies said at a news conference. They added that the venture is aimed at expanding the toy industry and won't immediately hurt traditional wholesaler-retailer relationships. Softbank president Masayoshi Son didn't have any sales forecasts for the venture, though he said that the companies involved are confident of the future growth of Internet shopping. Mr. Son also confirmed that Softbank will establish a venture capital fund totaling 230 billion yen for investment in Internet start-ups. Some 220 billion yen will be invested in U.S. companies, and the balance will be invested in Japanese concerns.

To: Spytrdr who wrote (7320)	6/24/1999 9:02:00 AM
From: Spytrdr	Respond to of 13953

Softbank's Internet empire expands New to the realm: venture cap funds, e-financial advice By Bill Clifford, CBS MarketWatch Last Update: 8:50 AM ET Jun 24, 1999 NewsWatch TOKYO (CBS.MW) -- For Softbank Corp., the letter "e" stands for everything. The Japanese software wholesaler and Internet financier has made global investments in all forms of e-businesses, from broadcasting to selling toys. But nothing compares to e-finance in Softbank's far-reaching empire. Today on CBS MarketWatch Europe rises; Germany up on budget Nasdaq may go IPO Multex.com buys Market Guide AMD warns of $200 million loss StockWatch: CEOs, Hong Kong and more More top stories... CBS MarketWatch Columns Updated: 6/24/99 5:59:08 AM ET On Thursday, that empire looked set to grow bigger in two ways. Softbank confirmed a report in the Nihon Keizai Shimbun business daily that it plans to set up three venture capital funds totaling over 200 billion yen ($1.7 billion) in July. The funds will invest mainly in Internet-related start-ups with growth potential. Softbank also launched yet another joint venture, E-Advisor Co., which will offer individual investors customized financial-planning advice over the Internet. In Thursday trade, Softbank shares soared by its daily maximum rise of 2,000 yen, or 9.1 percent, to close at a record high of 23,970. Adventures in venture capitalism According to the Nihon Keizai report, the three funds to be launched by Softbank would collectively be worth about 20 percent of the annual venture capital market in the U.S. Rarely has so much money been raised to focus on investing in a single industry. A Softbank spokesman told CBS MarketWatch that "the details of the three funds as reported by Nikkei are accurate." Softbank Technology Ventures of California will form a $600 million fund to invest over the next three years in as many as 70 companies that have yet to go public. Massachusetts-based Softbank Holdings Inc. will create a $1.2 billion fund to invest in about 20 established firms that will go public in three to six months. A third fund of around 10 billion yen will be set up in Japan to invest in 20-30 privately owned firms which could eventually be traded on the Japanese-style Nasdaq stock market that Softbank plans to start next year with the U.S. National Association of Securities Dealers. On-line financial planning In another link to the Softbank realm, E-Advisor Co., capitalized at 300 million yen ($2.5 million dollars), will start operating this month. Softbank Financial Corp. will take a 67 percent stake in the venture, Connecticut-based DirectAdvice.com will own 22 percent, and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT: news, msgs) the remaining 11 percent. E-Advisor will offer personalized financial advice based on information -- income, age, spending plans, etc. -- that customers e-mail to a company Website. The company will also offer investors contact, virtual or in person, with professional financial advisers, the Softbank spokesman said. Softbank's empire is one of interlocking shares: the company invested in DirectAdvice.com last December. When the companies agreed last month to set up E-Advisor, Softbank Finance president Yoshitaka Kitao said, "Online financial planning is poised to become a major consumer offering in Japan and other Pacific Rim countries." E-Advisor no doubt will face stiff competition in Japan and Korea, where it intends to expand next. But none of the potential rivals are positioning themselves to be the financial portal of the future that the Softbank Group aims to become. Beyond financial advice, Softbank provides online transactions services through its stakes in E-Trade Group (EGRP: news, msgs) and E-Loan Inc. The piece de resistance may prove to be the50 percent it owns of Nasdaq-Japan Planning Co., which is to launch a new electronic stock market here late next year. See full story. "Softbank's value as an Internet company comes from this cross-fertilization of various business interests," said Ravi Sarathy, analyst at Lehman Brothers. "It's success as a globally focused investor in Internet enterprises is why we're targeting Softbank's stock to hit 41,600 yen," Sarathy told CBS MarketWatch. See the interview. At Thursday's close of 23,970, the shares have already screamed 64.6 percent higher from the June 1 price of 14,560.