Japanese operator KDDI said Thursday that it will acquire Japanese Internet service provider Biglobe from private-equity firm Japan Industrial Partners to increase revenue outside its mobile telecommunications business.
KDDI plans to acquire the shares for the total amount of around 80.0 billion yen ($704 million) in January 2017 and to make BIGLOBE a wholly owned subsidiary.
BIGLOBE has over 2 million subscribers fixed internet customers and it also has approximately 400,000 low cost mobile customers. At the same time, KDDI has around 38.58 million mobile subscribers and around 9.04 million subscribers to fixed-line telecommunication services such as the "au HIKARI" brand FTTH, CATV services, and others. Moreover, KDDI has recently been providing services that suit customers' lifestyle scenarios outside of the telecommunications domain, such as settlement services and product sales business centered on "au WALLET" and "au WALLET Market."
According to KDDI, both companies will utilize their respective customer bases, business expertise, and so forth to expand business through synergies between the two companies, not only in the telecommunications domain, but also in non-telecommunications domains such as settlement services and product sales business.
