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Technology Stocks : Softbank Group Corp -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TobagoJack who wrote (2793)	12/23/1999 3:22:00 AM
From: Edwin S. Fujinaka	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6018

As others have reported, Softbank was up the 5000Yen limit in early trading in Tokyo to an equivalent $713 (close to the US close of $710. Bloomberg had a couple of stories earlier today: Tokyo, Dec. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Japan Digital Broadcasting Services Inc., operator of Japan's most-watched digital TV service Sky PerfecTV, said it plans to sell its shares to the public by March 2001. The Tokyo-based company didn't specify how many shares it will sell, or on which market it plans to list. Among possible options are the Tokyo Stock Exchange's ``Mothers' market, or Market of High-growth and Emerging Stocks, which started today with the lowest listing requirements of all Japan's markets, or the over-the-counter market. Japan Digital Broadcasting's main shareholders include News Corp., the Australia-based international media company controlled by Rupert Murdoch; Softbank Corp., Japan's largest Internet investment company; Fuji Television Network Inc., Japan's second- most-watched network; Itochu Corp., Japan's second-largest trading company; and Sony Corp., the world's No. 2 consumer electronics company, which each own 11.38 percent. Japan Digital Broadcasting is looking to raise money to expand services before other digital broadcasters begin operations. Japan's Ministry of Post and Telecommunications this month approved eight companies for digital broadcasting licenses, including a company backed by the Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. group of companies. Existing shareholders in Japan Digital Broadcasting will also step up their investment in the company during the current fiscal year, doubling its capital to 80 billion yen ($78.7 million) by the end of March 31 to allow it to buy new equipment to service a growing customer base, it said. The companies will provide the capital in the same ratio as their current shareholdings, so the ratio of their stakes will remain unchanged. Japan Digital Broadcasting's plans to list its shares come as Mothers, Japan's first market for Internet start-ups, attracted massive demand today on its first day of trading, with the two companies that listed being bid up their exchange-imposed limits after spending all day untraded. The Tokyo Stock Exchange's ``Mothers' market, or Market of High-growth and Emerging Stocks, has the lowest listing requirements of all Japan's markets and is intended to make it easier for small ventures to raise capital. Mothers stresses disclosure over profitability as its main listing requirement and was established to stimulate growth in small companies by making it easier for them to raise capital. Mothers demands that companies sell a minimum 1,000 shares, report earnings quarterly, and make a profit within five years of listing. There are no restrictions on how long a company has been in business. Bloomberg L.P., the parent of Bloomberg News, provides programming to PerfecTV and DirecTV in Japan. News Corp. shares fell 12.1 cents, or 0.8 percent, to A$14.61 ($9.42) today. Tokyo, Dec. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Shares of Softbank Corp. (9984 JP ) gained their exchange-imposed limit of 5,000 yen, or 7.4 percent, to 72,800 on news Japan's largest Internet investment company's fiber-optic network venture with Microsoft Corp. and Global Crossing Ltd. will start offering transmission services on cables running through Japan and under the Pacific Ocean to the U.S. at the end of this month, three months ahead of schedule. Separately, Internet Research Institute, Inc., an Internet system consulting firm that's 6.8 percent owned by Softbank, was to debut on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's High-Growth Emerging Stocks market, or Mothers. IRI was untraded on a glut of buy orders, with the last bid at 20.7 million yen, compared with its initial offer price of 11.7 million yen.