(Bloomberg) -- Japanese e-commerce company Rakuten Group Inc. is planning to issue up to ¥100 billion ($666 million) of corporate bond-type shares to strengthen its financial position.

Rakuten plans to sell as much as 75 million of the stocks, which will have no voting rights and can’t be converted into common shares, avoiding any dilution, the Tokyo-based company said in a statement Tuesday. Fixed dividends will be distributed for about five years and the shares can be called after that period, it said. Details including the size, terms and the timing of issuance will be decided at a later date, and the proceeds can be used for debt redemption.

Credit markets have signaled some of the highest repayment risk in Japan for billionaire Hiroshi Mikitani’s company, according to Bloomberg-compiled data, after a 2020 move into Japan’s saturated mobile phone market pulled it deeper into debt. Rakuten has been working to shore up its finances, including raising funds from the world’s largest bond market that reflected the fact that there’s no junk debt market in Japan.

The shares will be treated 100% as equity, and will be listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s Prime Market, Rakuten said. 

Rakuten’s plans to issue corporate-bond-like stock follows SoftBank Corp.’s debut of such shares in November. The stock, the first-ever such securities in Japan, traded more than the offering price on the listing day. The class shares were mainly sold to individuals. 

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.