In the latest news on Rakuten’s moves to fortify its balance sheet, Reuters exclusively reported that Japanese e-commerce firm Rakuten was looking to raise around 300 billion yen ($2.2 billion) by issuing new shares to shore up its finances after years of losses from its mobile business. Shares of Rakuten, which were up around 5% in afternoon trade before the May 15 Reuters report, turned negative and ended the day down 9%, their biggest one-day drop in three years. Rakuten also issued shares to founder and CEO Hiroshi Mikitani and his fund to pay down debt and build base stations. By the time Rakuten confirmed these reports at the close of trade the following day, its stock had fallen another 5%.
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