Rakuten Soars After Winning Contract for Next Generation Network
- Shares jumped the most in over three months in Tokyo
- Rakuten will build and operate 1&1 mobile network in Germany
This article is for subscribers only.
Rakuten Group Inc., the Japanese e-commerce giant that launched a mobile service last year, gained the most in over three months after the company said it won its first contract to export its network-building knowhow overseas.
The shares climbed as much as 8.4% to 1,358 yen in Tokyo on Thursday, the biggest intra-day gain since April 22. Rakuten said it signed a 10-year contract to build, run and maintain a fully-virtualized network for Germany’s 1&1 AG. While the company declined to disclose the value of the deal, Nikkei newspaper reported its worth at over 250 billion yen ($2.3 billion).