Ariba & Softbank in joint venture

CALIFORNIA -Ariba, Inc.today announced a joint venture with Softbank Corp. and Softbank E-commerce Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of Softbank Corp.

Under the terms of the agreement, Softbank Group will take a significant equity position in Nihon Ariba KK with certain revenue commitments over the next three years. Building on Ariba's success, Nihon Ariba KK will distribute the complete Ariba (r) B2B Commerce Platform including Ariba Buyer, Ariba Marketplace, Ariba Dynamic Trade, and Ariba Sourcing as well as extend the Ariba Commerce Services Network (Ariba CSN) to the Japanese market.

In addition, Softbank has selected the Ariba B2B Commerce Platform for four major strategic projects:

"The Japanese eCommerce market is on the verge of taking off, and this joint venture brings together the largest B2B eCommerce companies in Japan and the US to establish the defacto standard for B2B eCommerce in Japan," said Larry Mueller, president and COO of Ariba. "Ariba and Softbank, with its extensive portfolio of companies, solid business relationships, and market leadership in the Japanese technology distribution arena, will lead the B2B revolution in Japan by optimizing the effectiveness of procurement operations of Japanese companies and globalizing their access to suppliers and potential points of sale."

The investment by Softbank in Tokyo-based Nihon Ariba KK is critical to achieving Ariba's rapid growth goals in Japan-the second largest global economy. The Japanese eCommerce market was estimated at $190 billion dollars in 2000 and is projected to expand to a total value of $680 billion dollars by 2003 (Japan-U.S. Electronic Commerce Market Survey, Ministry of International Trade and Industry, 1999).

"Ariba is the clear global B2B leader with its proven execution, best-of-breed B2B eCommerce solutions, and blue chip customer base," said Masayoshi Son, president and CEO of SOFTBANK CORP. "This is the first B2B venture of its kind in Japan which will jump start Ariba's technology adoption in this market. We are confident that we can duplicate Ariba's success in Japan."

The Ariba B2B Commerce Platform, including Ariba Buyer, Ariba Marketplace, Ariba Dynamic Trade, and Ariba CSN, helps companies realize greater economies of scale and commerce process efficiencies, resulting in lower costs and competitive advantage.

All Ariba B2B Commerce Platform customers have instant access to over 30,000 suppliers worldwide through the Ariba CSN allowing for transparent collaboration between buyers and suppliers. Ariba CSN is Ariba's network infrastructure for delivering commerce services to companies in the B2B ecosystem. These open services extend and redefine interaction and collaboration between B2B trading partners globally and include directory and registration services, transaction management, catalog services, content delivery and discovery services, financial services, sourcing services, and logistics and supply chain management.