Softbank To Buy Daiei Hawks Japanese Baseball Team

Tokyo-based Softbank Corp. agreed to pay $192M to U.S. investment fund Colony Capital and Japanese retailer Daiei Inc. for rights to the Daiei Hawks Japanese professional baseball team, according to Suzuki & Ueno of BLOOMBERG NEWS. Softbank President Masayoshi Son said that the deal, which is expected to be finalized sometime this month, would include “management control of the team and selling rights for tickets and branded goods.” Son said his company will also pay Colony “several billion yen” annually to rent the Fukuoka Dome for games. Suzuki & Ueno noted Softbank is Japan’s second-largest supplier of high-speed Internet access and expects Web content “related to the baseball team to help promote its business” (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 11/18).

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