Rakuten Mobile said it will continue to manage and operate these mobile network assets in Japan
Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten Group and Macquarie Asset Management announced that Rakuten Mobile will raise between JPY150-300 billion (around $1-2 billion) in funds for the sale and leaseback of a portion of its mobile network assets with a consortium of global leading infrastructure investors, led by Macquarie Asset Management.
Through this arrangement, Rakuten Mobile said it will conduct fundraising in the form of a sale and leaseback transaction and will continue to manage and operate these mobile network assets in Japan.
Rakuten Group said it will announce the final amount and other conditions in due course.
Mickey Mikitani, chairman and CEO of Rakuten Group, said: “Rakuten Mobile is already well on its way to profitability, and with our new initiative, we will continue to build on this momentum as we aim to reach profitability even faster and become the top mobile carrier in Japan.”
“We believe Japan’s commitment to revitalize its digital economy and accelerate the pace of digital transformation presents significant opportunities to investors in the digital infrastructure sector. The Rakuten Ecosystem and Rakuten Mobile’s network is at the very forefront of this digital evolution, and we are excited to partner with Rakuten Mobile to support and accelerate its business growth,” said Verena Lim, co-head of Asia-Pacific Macquarie Asset Management Infrastructure and CEP of Macquarie Group in Asia.
Rakuten Mobile noted its profitability has been improving in accord with a steady increase of its subscriber base and capex reduction. The Rakuten Group’s finance strategy aims to establish self-funding for the financing needs of Rakuten Mobile through internal cash flows within the Group by the end of this year, it added.
Rakuten Group said that securing long-term and large-scale funding for Rakuten Mobile from leading global infrastructure investors, to meet immediate funding needs, not only contributes to diversifying the company’s financing methods and expanding its investor base but also is expected to further strengthen the Group’s financial foundation.
Rakuten Mobile announced that the number of subscribers for its mobile carrier service has surpassed 7.7 million as of August 7, 2024.
In June, Rakuten Mobile announced the launch of commercial services using the so-called “platinum band” previously allocated by the Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications in 2023.
Rakuten Mobile noted that it has launched commercial services using this new spectrum in the 700 MHz band leveraging the expertise gained by building its nationwide fully virtualized mobile network based on Open RAN standards in the 1.7 GHz band.
Going forward, Rakuten Mobile said it will continue to expand services via the 700 MHz band using its network of base stations.
The telco noted that the spectrum in the 700 MHz platinum band offers better indoor building penetration and underground connectivity
Rakuten Mobile highlighted it expects to have 10,661 specific base stations operating in the 700 MHz band by March 2033.
