Advised PriceMinister, the #1 online shopping destination in France, on its sale to Rakuten, Japan’s largest online shopping mall operator

Arma Partners is pleased to announce that it is acting as financial adviser to PriceMinister S.A. (“PriceMinister”) on its proposed sale to Rakuten, Inc. (JASDAQ:4755) (“Rakuten”), announced on June 17, 2010. The transaction is valued at c.€200 million and is expected to complete during July 2010.

With over 11 million unique monthly visitors and 12 million members, PriceMinister is the largest eCommerce site in France by audience, surpassing the online audience of eBay. PriceMinister provides consumers with a guaranteed online shopping experience, via its eMarketplace (www.priceminister.com). The company has more than 100,000 active sellers and over 21,000 merchants offering an extensive selection exceeding 160 million products. PriceMinister has successfully launched eMarketplace operations in both Spain and the United Kingdom.

In addition to its eMarketplace, PriceMinister also owns and operates one of France’s foremost online travel sites VoyagerMoinsCher (www.voyagermoinscher.com) and pre-eminent online property classifieds site A Vendre A Louer (www.avendrealouer.fr).

The transaction brings an important partner for PriceMinister. Rakuten is one of the world’s pre-eminent eCommerce companies via its eMarketplace, Rakuten Ichiba, which is Japan’s number one shopping site. By leveraging Rakuten’s expertise in empowering merchants and deploying sales campaigns, PriceMinister will strengthen its competitive advantage in both the French and European markets.

The sale of PriceMinister to Rakuten is a significant milestone in the development of Arma Partners’ global Media and Digital Media practice and highlights the firm’s ability to provide market-leading, seamless advice across the entire Technology, Media & Telecommunications (“TMT”) spectrum.

This transaction also highlights Arma Partners’ world-class cross-border M&A advisory capabilities and is the first transaction that leverages the firm’s relationship with Sangyo Sosei Advisory (www.sangyososei.com), Japan’s leading independent TMT advisory group.