Press Releases 2017

Yahoo! JAPAN Makes Full-fledged Entry into Self-driving
Sector with Investment in SB Drive SB Drive now capitalized at approximately JPY 1 billion with new investment
from Yahoo! JAPAN and additional investment from SoftBank Corp.
Yahoo! JAPAN to study linkage of self-driving with its own services and big data

March 24, 2017
Yahoo Japan Corporation
SoftBank Corp.
SB Drive Corp.

Yahoo Japan Corporation (“Yahoo! JAPAN”) and SoftBank Corp. (“SoftBank”), a subsidiary of SoftBank Group Corp., today announced that SB Drive Corp. (“SB Drive”), a company aiming to commercialize smart mobility services by utilizing self-driving technologies, received a capital increase through a third-party allocation of shares, with Yahoo! JAPAN making a new investment and SoftBank making an additional investment.

SB Drive was established in April 2016 as a joint venture between SoftBank and Advanced Smart Mobility Co., Ltd. (“Advanced Smart Mobility”), a company researching and developing automated driving technologies. Under a cooperative framework with SoftBank, Advanced Smart Mobility, Yahoo! JAPAN and others, SB Drive has been conducting social trials and testing the commercial viability of fixed-route bus type community public transportation and large truck convoy-based trunk line freight transportation systems that utilize self-driving technologies. Currently SB Drive has smart mobility partnership agreements with four municipalities in Japan, including Kitakyushu City and Yazu Town in Tottori Prefecture. In the latter half of fiscal 2018, SB Drive is planning to conduct fully autonomous driving trials on public roads.

Yahoo! JAPAN's investment in SB Drive marks its full-fledged entry into the self-driving sector. By linking self-driving with it regional and transportation services like Yahoo! Maps and by utilizing big data from self-driving and Yahoo! JAPAN service users, Yahoo! JAPAN will pursue its “UPDATE MOBILITY” goal that aims to address the regional and transport issues of customers.

Capital Increase Overview

(1) Investment amounts

Yahoo! JAPAN: approx. JPY 490 million, SoftBank: approx. JPY 190 million (cumulative investment of approx. 510 million)

(2) Date of transaction

March 17, 2017

(3) Shareholder ratios after capital increase

SoftBank: 51.1%, Yahoo! JAPAN: 48.6%, Advanced Smart Mobility: 0.3%

About SB Drive

Company name SB Drive Corp.
Established April 1, 2016
Representative Yuki Saji, President & CEO
Location 1-9-1 Higashi-shimbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Shareholders SoftBank Corp., Yahoo Japan Corporation, Advanced Smart Mobility Co., Ltd.
Activities Consulting on the implementation of self-driving technologies and their operation
Development and operation of mobility service related to passenger transport and logistics
URL http://www.softbank.jp/en/drive/
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