Author Archive
Can Kjell Aamot lead Johnston Press to a better perspective?
Johnston Press plc, one of the U.K.’s leading regional media groups announced on July 20 the appointment of Kjell Aamot as non-executive director of the company with effect from Aug. 1. Read the rest of this entry »
A 200-million-euros birthday present, Rakuten to PriceMinister
PriceMinister, known by many as the French EBay, has been purchased for 200 million euros ($247,365,000 USD) by Japanese e-commerce specialist Rakuten. PriceMinister was founded by Pierre Kosciusko-Morizet 10 years ago.
Rakuten reported revenues of $3.2 billion U.S. in 2009. Rakuten’s Ichiba e-commerce platform, founded and managed by Hiroshi Mikitani, has 64 million members.
Today’s announcement of the transaction said that the French company has been acquired by the European arm of the Japanese group, Rakuten Europe S.a.r.l. The contract includes an obligation for the founders of PriceMinister to remain involved in the development of the company in France and Europe for a period of five years.
According to Kosciusko-Morizet, the Rakuten group plans to use PriceMinister as its development vehicle in European markets.
PriceMinister.com, with 11 million unique monthly visitors, also owns VoyagerMoinsCher, a travel price-comparison site, and real estate site AVendreALouer .
