OREANDA-NEWS. Rakuten Inc. will launch a tender offer to turn Stylife Corp. (3037) into a wholly owned subsidiary, spending as much as 1.1 billion yen to raise its stake from the current 32.5%.

The deal is intended to strengthen cooperation between Stylife's fashion websites and the Rakuten Ichiba virtual mall amid intense price competition.

Rakuten, Stylife's top shareholder, on Monday announced an agreement with the next two highest-ranking shareholders. Apparel manufacturer Burnedest Japan Ltd. and Parco Co. will both accept the offer of 74,000 yen per common share, with a roughly 35.8% premium over the average closing price for the last three months. Rakuten will also purchase equity warrants for 1 yen apiece. The offer runs from Tuesday through March 21.

Stylife's parent-only sales are expected to drop 17% on the year to 5.26 billion yen for fiscal 2012. The firm will likely log a net loss of around 836 million yen, up from the previous year's 672 million yen.