UPDATE 2-Softbank eyes 40 pct stake in Oak Pacific -sources
(Adds analyst comment, background)
TOKYO, April 30 (Reuters) - Japan's Softbank Corp (9984.T) plans to take control of Chinese Internet firm Oak Pacific Interactive for up to 30 billion yen ($288 million) in a bid to pre-empt global leaders such as Google Inc (GOOG.O) and Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) in China's fast-growing Internet market.
Softbank, which aims to become Asia's leading Internet company, is seeking inroads in China, where local operators dominate the market and where Google, Yahoo Inc (YHOO.O) and Microsoft are jockeying for position.
The news sent shares of Softbank up as much as 4.4 percent in early morning trade. The shares closed up 2.9 percent to 2,115 yen after the morning session, compared with a 0.1 percent fall in the benchmark Nikkei average .N225.
Oak Pacific runs China's xianonei.com social networking site for college students and has 50 million total registered users. Its sites log 350 million daily page views.
The xianonei.com site alone has 22 million users, dwarfing Japan's biggest social networking site Mixi Inc (2121.T), which has about 13 million.
"OPI's advertisement model is solid and it should be able to deliver returns soon," said Deutsche analyst Kenji Nishimura. "Its listing may also be very quick."
Oak Pacific will issue new shares to Softbank, raising its stake to 40 percent from its current 14 percent and making the Japanese Internet and telecom firm Oak Pacific's top shareholder, two company sources said.
They gave a range of a little over 20 billion yen ($192 million) to up to 30 billion yen for the share issue.
Softbank earlier took a 14 percent stake in Oak Pacific for about 10 billion yen.
The Japanese Internet and telecom firm holds roughly a third of China's biggest e-commerce site Alibaba.com Ltd's (1688.HK) holding company and is also top shareholder of Yahoo Japan Corp (4689.T). ($1=104.06 Yen) (Reporting by Mayumi Negishi; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
