The amount which includes the entire group PriceMinister i

Pierre Kosciusko-Morizet could take the opportunity to devote himself to the passion of the song some lend him. But it will still remain five years CEO of PriceMinister, the first French e-commerce site by attendance, with 11 million unique visitors. The maintenance of the current management is one of the conditions of the agreement, which was signed yesterday morning with the Rakuten Japanese, although the transaction concerns the acquisition by the group led by the charismatic Hiroshi Mikitani, of 100 of the capital of PriceMinister. This means that the founders cede their block of 40 (with a little less than 20 for "pkm"), "business angels" and employees of the company created in 2000 (40) also and funds Atlas, Phillimore, TechnoCap and Quilvest, who held a total 20 shares.

Despite the maintenance of the leaders, it is a page in the history of the French e-commerce that turns, the operation being before all intended to bring out the venture capitalists (see below).

The amount, which includes the entire group PriceMinister, i.e. also VoyagerMoinsCher, the comparison of prices, and AVendreALouer site, is EUR 200 million, "approximately" in the words ducommuniqué... According to Pierre Kosciusko-Morizet, who has never published the figures for his company, Rakuten puts his hand on a profitable business that will provide "more than 25 of Ebit this year, is two times more than in 2009".

A pattern generation

In an interview with the "Echos", Hiroshi Mikitani says that the acquisition is part of the logic of international development of Rakuten: "we have created a joint venture in China with Badoo, LinkShare back in the United States. Today, we want to develop in Europe, which is a market in strong growth. And in Europe, the France is in e-commerce growth particularly important: the annual rates are above 25, while the Japan we are between 10 and 15.

Seen in the Japan as a boss of the new generation (see opposite), young millionaire in the country, revered by some as a real "rock star", Hiroshi Mikitani has created a group that today weighs $ 3.2 billion and who is also present in the media, as illustrated, for example, its acquisition of Global Mediacom in Indonesia in 15 years. According to an American journalist, by Pierre KosciuskoMorizet, it would be "the biggest unknown companies." E-commerce, Rakuten is present both in the Bank and insurance online in the travel (such as PriceMinister). But its main activity is Rakuten Ichiba, the largest mall virtual Japanese, with 58 million of products offered by more than 33,000 professionals. According to the connoisseurs of the site, many traders carried more than 1 million dollars of monthly revenue through the "shopping mall", including a specialist in fresh eggs! The Japan, Rakuten has 64 million members.

For Japanese pattern-founder, PriceMinister, "including some process are better than ours", he said, will be the basis of its development in Europe. He gave instruction to "PKM" to open new branches and make acquisitions. A mission that the pioneer of the French e-commerce should not delay to complete. "We have already looked at, we are on the radar of the commercial banks. "We have ideas," it easily recognized.