Rakuten to Raise $2.2 Billion as Japan Post, Tencent Invest (1)

Rakuten Inc. plans to raise 242 billion yen ($2.2 billion) by selling shares to investors including Tencent Holdings Ltd., Walmart Inc. and Japan Post Holdings Co., bankrolling expansions into AI, finance and mobile.

Japan Post will buy a stake of 8.32% via new and existing shares in Rakuten while China’s social media leader and the U.S. retail giant will take smaller slices, a filing showed Friday. Shares of Rakuten and Japan Post surged as the agreement builds on an existing alliance on logistics forged by the two last year.

The Japanese e-commerce pioneer has benefited from a boom ...