Rakuten
Acquisitions
3
Major Deals Covered
$2.2B
Disclosed Deal Value
Rakuten's largest disclosed acquisition here is Ebates (Rakuten Rewards) for $1B in 2014. This page covers 3 major deals from 2011 to 2014, each with its price where disclosed and the reason behind it.
| Company | Year | Price | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ebates (Rakuten Rewards) | 2014 | $1.0B | Acquired leading US cash-back shopping portal to expand international e-commerce presence. |
| Kobo Inc. | 2011 | $315.0M | Acquired Canadian digital e-reader and e-book platform to compete with Amazon Kindle. |
| Viber Media | 2014 | $900.0M | Acquired global VoIP and messaging application with hundreds of millions of users. |
2014
$1.0B
Acquired leading US cash-back shopping portal to expand international e-commerce presence.
Established Rakuten Rewards as a major consumer shopping affiliate network in North America.
Core international subsidiary as Rakuten Rewards.
2014
$900M
Acquired global VoIP and messaging application with hundreds of millions of users.
Provided global messaging infrastructure and international consumer reach.
Integrated communications platform.
2011
$315M
Acquired Canadian digital e-reader and e-book platform to compete with Amazon Kindle.
Expanded Rakuten into global digital publishing across 190 countries.
Integrated digital reading division.
Rakuten's growth strategy rests on three moves: push Rakuten Mobile toward sustained profitability by adding subscribers who also use other Rakuten services; deepen FinTech by consolidating card, bank and securities under Rakuten Bank to cut funding costs and cross-sell deposits in a rising-rate Japan; and apply AI across Ichiba search, recommendations and merchant tools to lift gross merchandise sales. Earlier, Rakuten raised capital through the 2023 Rakuten Bank IPO and by selling minority stakes in Rakuten Securities to Mizuho, which helped fund the mobile build-out.
Rakuten makes money from three segments tied together by one Rakuten ID and Rakuten Points. Internet Services (Rakuten Ichiba, Rakuten Travel, Rakuten Rewards, Kobo) earns merchant fees, commissions and advertising, since Ichiba is a marketplace where independent shops run their own storefronts rather than a first-party retailer. FinTech (Rakuten Card, Rakuten Bank, Rakuten Securities, Rakuten Payment, insurance) earns interchange, revolving-credit interest, deposit spreads and brokerage fees. Mobile (Rakuten Mobile and Rakuten Symphony) earns monthly subscription revenue and telecom software fees. Customers who use more Rakuten services earn more points through the Super Point Up (SPU) program, which lowers churn and acquisition costs across the group.
In September 2014, Rakuten acquired US cash-back and e-commerce affiliate leader Ebates for $1.0 billion in cash, rebranding it as Rakuten Rewards to anchor its consumer shopping and loyalty platform in North America.
In February 2014, Rakuten acquired global instant messaging and VoIP app Viber for $900 million, bringing over 300 million international users into the Rakuten family and expanding global digital communications infrastructure.
In November 2011, Rakuten acquired Canadian e-reader and digital bookstore company Kobo Inc. for $315 million, building Rakuten Kobo into one of the world's premier open digital book and audio platforms competing directly against Amazon Kindle.
Rakuten built its FinTech dominance through key domestic acquisitions, including acquiring credit card company Aritco (reorganized as Rakuten Card) in 2004 and acquiring internet banking pioneer eBank (reorganized as Rakuten Bank) in 2009.
In March 2015, Rakuten acquired OverDrive, the world's leading digital content platform for public libraries and schools, later divesting the asset in 2020 to private equity firm KKR at an attractive financial return to redeploy capital into mobile network expansion.
In 2020, Rakuten acquired US-based InnoEye, securing advanced telecom operations software and network orchestration tools that became the foundational software engine for Rakuten Symphony's Open RAN cloud platform.
Rakuten made early high-return venture investments in ridesharing giant Lyft (holding an early ~13% stake) and established a multi-year direct-to-cell satellite communications partnership and equity investment in AST SpaceMobile.
Rakuten focuses capital allocation on disciplined debt deleveraging, scaling mobile subscriber profitability, investing in generative AI workflows with OpenAI, and expanding Rakuten Symphony enterprise software sales globally.
In September 2014, Rakuten acquired leading US cash-back and shopping rewards platform Ebates for $1.0 billion in cash, establishing a major North American digital commerce beachhead that was later rebranded as Rakuten Americas.
In November 2011, Rakuten acquired Toronto-based digital e-reading platform Kobo for $315 million in cash, providing an international digital content ecosystem to challenge Amazon’s Kindle globally.
In February 2014, Rakuten acquired global VoIP and instant messaging app Viber for $900 million, adding hundreds of millions of international registered mobile users to the Rakuten communications ecosystem.
In 2020, Rakuten acquired InnoEye, a US-based telecommunications software firm that developed the unified Operations Support System (OSS) platform that became the foundational software core of Rakuten Symphony.
In 2015, Rakuten invested $300 million for an 11% early stake in ridesharing company Lyft; when Lyft went public in 2019, Rakuten’s stake was valued at over $2 billion, delivering massive capital gains.
In 2015, Rakuten acquired digital library eBook distributor OverDrive for $410 million, later selling it to private equity firm KKR in 2020 for a substantial profit to redeploy capital into Rakuten Mobile.
Rakuten Capital is the group’s corporate venture capital arm, investing hundreds of millions in global tech innovators across fintech, digital health, autonomous mobility, and artificial intelligence.
Rakuten focuses M&A on strategic software acquisitions that enhance Rakuten Symphony’s Open RAN telecommunications suite, AI data intelligence tools, and logistics automation partnerships in Japan.
Compare corporate acquisition records, deal values, and strategic targets
Explore Rakuten
Core profile pages, founders and related research hubs for this company.