Softbank Corp. agreed to buy Japan Telecom Co. (JT) from Ripplewood Holdings, a U.S. investment firm, for about 340 billion yen (US$3.0 billion). The deal combines Softbank's rapidly growing broadband business with JT's stronger cash flows from corporate voice and data services. Japan Telecom has 170,000 corporate customers and 1.67 million Internet access subscribers. JT operates a 10,000km nationwide fiber backbone and MPLS data network. As of 10-May-2004, Softbank's Yahoo! BB service had 4 million ADSL users and about 3.8 million VoIP users.
Ripplewood Holdings acquired Vodafone's 66.7% share in Japan Telecom in November 2003 in a leveraged buyout. Vodafone took control of Japan Telecom in 2001 from BT. http://www.softbank.co.jphttp://www.japan-telecom.co.jp
- Ripplewood Holdings L.L.C. manages approximately $10 billion of capital,
focusing primarily on investments in the U.S. and Japan. - Softbank BB, which reached more than four million subscribers by the end of March 2004, is the first competitive carrier in the world to surpass the incumbent provider in market share.
