Rakuten buys Play.com - Online Retailing

Online retailer of music, books and electronics Play.com has been bought by Japanese e-commerce operator Rakuten. Rakuten, which employs 10,000 people, operates e-commerce businesses in 10 countries worldwide. The company purchased Play.com, which was founded in 1998 and has 14 million registered users, for £25 million ($39.3 million, €28.6 million). Hiroshi Mikitan, chief executive and chairman of Rakuten commented his latest investment: “The UK market is one of Europe’s largest and most mature e-commerce markets. Play.com is not only a pioneer in the market, but also one of the