Softbank not to sell stake in Yahoo Japan

Mumbai: Japanese telecommunications and internet group Softbank Corporation has no plans to sell its 41 per cent stake in Yahoo Japan to Microsoft Corporation following its $44-billion bid for the US search engine group Yahoo! Inc.

Microsoft, which made a $44.6 billion unsolicited bid for Yahoo Inc, could boost the value of the Yahoo brand, Softbank chief executive Masayoshi Son said. ``If done properly, Yahoo brand value can increase as a result,'' Son added.

Softbank, the third-largest Japanese mobile-phone operator, owns 3.9 per cent of Yahoo! Inc, the Tokyo-based company said in a website statement.

"We will consider the bid in light of our overall Yahoo strategy," said Son, "We have no intention of selling our Yahoo Japan stake."

He said Softbank also had no plans to take part in a counter-bid for the US company.

Yahoo is the dominant search engine in Japan - one of the few markets in which Yahoo remains the dominant. Yahoo Japan also operates the country's leading auction site eBay.

Software giant Microsoft announced its bid for Yahoo in a move to challenge top search engine Google Inc. by combining the second- and third-biggest web search providers.

Microsoft expects to benefit more from Yahoo than another buyer, according to analysts. Microsoft's gains are more strategic than in economic value, they say.