MIZUHO Financial Group is planning to make an additional investment in Rakuten Group’s online securities arm, raising its stake to a little shy of 50 per cent, sources familiar with the matter said.

The move comes a year after Japan’s third-largest banking group bought about 20 per cent of Rakuten Securities and made a business alliance. The deal is expected to be valued at around 90 billion yen (S$808.6 million), one of the sources said. Nikkei reported on the potential transaction earlier.

Rakuten Group is considering an additional investment by Mizuho in Rakuten Securities and this will be discussed at its board meeting scheduled on Thursday (Nov 9), the firm said in a stock exchange filing after the Nikkei report. It is poised to report results on Thursday. Mizuho also said separately in a filing that it is in discussions on investing in Rakuten Securities.

The holding company for Rakuten Securities, a part of billionaire Hiroshi Mikitani’s e-commerce giant, has applied for an initial public offering (IPO) of the unit.

Nikkei said Rakuten Group has been aiming to raise about 100 billion yen by listing its securities unit this year, though has decided to postpone the IPO due to the brokerage’s move to cut its commission on domestic stock trading to zero.

The move is seen as putting pressure on the online brokerage’s IPO price ahead of its listing, Bloomberg reported last month. BLOOMBERG

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