Sprint owner SoftBank reorganizes into two subsidiaries

Japanese telecommunications and Internet company SoftBank Group Corp. will reorganize into two new 100 percent-owned subsidiaries, with its global investment business that includes Sprint Corp. separated from its domestic operations.

The company said Monday the move is aimed at making its two key business areas “future growth drivers,” with the transfer to be completed by December. The move needs shareholders’ approval.

The company’s stakes in Overland Park-based Sprint and Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holding will go under the global operations management subsidiary, while those in domestic operations such as Yahoo Japan will go to the other subsidiary focused on Japan.

The company said the impact on earnings would be minor. Billionaire Masayoshi Son remains group chairman and chief executive officer.

SoftBank is counting on turning around ailing Sprint with good connectivity, competitive prices and better service. A Sprint spokeswoman declined to comment on the reorganization’s potential impact on Sprint.

Group president Nikesh Arora will head up operations abroad that include Sprint. He’s a former Google Inc. executive who joined Sprint’s board of directors in November 2014.

Ken Miyauchi, who heads SoftBank’s mobile operations in Japan, will lead all domestic businesses.

“This makes perfect sense, considering how large SoftBank’s overseas holdings have gotten,” said Toshihiro Uomoto, the chief credit strategist in Tokyo at Nomura Holdings Inc. “This may speed things up at SoftBank, allowing domestic and overseas operations to race against each other.”

As of March 7, SoftBank’s domestic holdings, including Yahoo Japan and Gungho Online Entertainment Inc., were worth close to 1.2 trillion yen. Its international investments, spanning Alibaba, Sprint and China’s Renren Inc., were valued at about 8 trillion yen as of Friday, according to its website.

This story was originally published March 7, 2016 at 9:28 AM with the headline "Sprint owner SoftBank reorganizes into two subsidiaries."