LY Corp, a company under SoftBank Group, announced on May 14 that it has partnered with Bain Capital to increase its acquisition offer for the Japanese price comparison and service platform operator Kakaku.com. This move values the company at over $4 billion and aims to outbid a competing acquisition attempt by Swedish investment firm EQT.

According to the newly disclosed proposal, the consortium formed by LY Corp and Bain Capital is now offering a full cash bid of 3,232 yen per share, which is a 7.7% increase from the initial offer of 3,000 yen per share. In a statement, LY Corp emphasized that with the rise of generative artificial intelligence, Kakaku.com's business resources hold "extremely high strategic value." As a technology flagship under SoftBank, LY Corp currently operates the social application Line and Yahoo Japan.

Previously, Swedish private equity giant EQT formally launched a tender offer on Wednesday aimed at taking Kakaku.com private, with an offer of 3,000 yen per share. Although this proposal had received unanimous support from Kakaku.com's board of directors, LY Corp's significant price increase has further escalated the bidding situation.