http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020829/ap_on_hi_te/ softbank_yahoo_2
Softbank Sells Part of Yahoo! Stake Thu Aug 29, 9:11 AM ET
TOKYO (AP) – Softbank Corp. ( news – web sites) sold a part of its stake in the Internet service Yahoo! of the United States to concentrate fully on its broadband business and to solidify its finances.
Softbank said Thursday that it sold 30 million Yahoo! shares for about $270 million, reducing its stake to 9 percent from 14 percent in Yahoo!, which is based in Sunnyvale, Calif.
Softbank also said it sold 6 million shares of its stake in UTStarcom for $72 million, pushing its stake in the U.S. electronic equipment company down to 26 percent from 31 percent. It will remain its top shareholder.
The Japanese company, which invested in a number of emerging companies in the 1990s, has been aggressively pushing its broadband Internet service in Japan, a business it is banking on after it racked up losses from the burst of the dot-com boom.
Softbank lost 88.8 billion yen ($747 million) for the fiscal year ended in March, versus a profit of 36.6 billion yen a year ago.
Softbank sold some Yahoo! shares in April, reducing its stake from about 16 percent.
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