Internet service provider Softbank Corp. said Monday it wants to buy the Daiei Hawks pro baseball club from its financially troubled owner Daiei Inc., marking the latest move by one of Japan's Net-related companies to expand into the baseball business.
"It would be a great advantage if we could raise the brand image and the name recognition of Softbank through the purchase," Softbank President Masayoshi Son told a news conference in Fukuoka, where the Daiei Hawks are based.
The move by Softbank, one of Japan's largest providers of high-speed Internet services, comes after struggling retailer Daiei turned to a state-backed bailout agency for its rehabilitation last week.