Yahoo Japan reportedly has plans to buy the owner of Zozotown, the country’s largest online fashion retailer, before expanding the business to take on e-commerce heavyweights Rakuten and Amazon.
According to Nikkei, Yahoo Japan wants to buy a majority of the retailer’s shares and then convert it to a subsidiary operation but will retain its stock-exchange listing. Zozo has a market capitalization of US$6.28 billion.
Zozo’s founder and CEO Yusaku Maezawa currently owns 30 percent of the company. Nikkei reports he is in favor of the deal and plans to step down from day to day management.