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Rakuten of Japan to Buy Ebates, a U.S. Rebate Site, for $1 Billion
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/09/09/rakuten-of-japan-to-buy-ebates-a-u-s-rebate-site-for-1-billion/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0Rakuten of Japan to Buy Ebates, a U.S. Rebate Site, for $1 Billion
By MARK SCOTT
September 9, 2014 5:41 am
The Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten has its eye on America.
On Tuesday, the company agreed to buy Ebates, an online rebate site in the United States that allows people to earn cash back when buying goods at stores like Macy’s and Home Depot. The price was $1 billion.
The acquisition is the latest international move by Hiroshi Mikitani, the billionaire co-founder and chief executive of Rakuten, whose businesses also include the Rakuten online marketplace, a travel agency, credit cards and a Japanese baseball team called the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles.
The spate of deals, including the $900 million acquisition of the Internet messaging application Viber this year, comes as Rakuten tries to reduce its reliance on the company’s home market.
