US investment bank Goldman Sachs took a 6.06 per cent stake in top Japanese Internet services firm Softbank as of the end of August, a report Goldman submitted to the Japanese Finance Ministry shows.
Shares in Softbank jumped 16.58 per cent today to close at 7,030 yen, their highest since January 2001 and trouncing a per cent gain in the Nikkei average.
No official comments were immediately available from Goldman or Softbank, Japan's largest operator of ADSL (asymmetric digital subscriber line) broadband Web access services.
Shares in Softbank, a once high-flying Internet investor whose fortunes deflated with the dot-com bubble, have recovered more than 400 per cent since the end of last year, helped by the rapid expansion of its ADSL service.
That compares with a roughly 30 per cent rise in the Nikkei over the same period.
Behind the surge in Softbank stock was also a strong performance by its unit Yahoo Japan, the nation's top Internet portal and largest online auction site operator.