Telecom major Softbank Group of Japan announced heads for its new divisions — domestic and overseas businesses.
SoftBank’s chief operating officer Nikesh Arora will head the overseas unit, while Ken Miyauchi, a SoftBank director, will lead the domestic business. Nikesh Arora, who was instrumental in making significant investment in Indian e-commerce ventures, joined SoftBank from Google.
The overseas division of SoftBank would include equity stakes in U.S. wireless carrier Sprint and Alibaba Group Holding, while the domestic unit would include its holdings in Yahoo Japan.
The reorganization of the Japanese telecom major would not separate revenue earnings for the domestic and overseas units, as SoftBank remains the single listed company which controls 100 percent of both units.
SoftBank has relied on its domestic mobile unit for the bulk of its operating profit to finance efforts to turn around Sprint. SoftBank holds majority stake in Sprint. Sprint competes with Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile.
Current SoftBank Group chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son will remain in charge of the group’s overall operations.
editor@telecomlead.com
