Goldman to Raise Stake in eMobile

According to this report on Reuters, EAccess plans to sell some of its stake in the newly launched eMobile unit to Goldman Sachs. The share sale would also see the firm change from a consolidated subsidiary of EAccess into an affiliate thus reducing losses the parent company would be required to book in group earnings. Emobile also appointed CFO Eric Gan as president and chief operating officer, having been managing director of Goldman before founding the telecom operator.

EAccess, among three companies granted new wireless licences in 2005, has raised about $3 billion to help build a nationwide network from scratch, by taking out loans and selling shares in the mobile unit to investors including Goldman and Singapore’s Temasek.

Goldman Sachs plans to pay 12 billion yen for 100,000 shares in EMobile, lifting its stake to 35.7 percent from 29.8 percent. EAccess’s stake will fall to 37.6 percent from 43.5 percent. The transaction would give bigger returns to Goldman, among the first investors in the Japanese mobile venture, when the unit goes public, currently expected around 2011-2012.