Canada Morningstar Japan Fondstar. We were interested in working with Morningstar because of its leadership role in the field of mutual fund and investment information. Initially, Morningstar will hold 60 percent and Softbank will hold 40 percent of the newly established company, which is capitalized at about 409 million yen. If Softbank exercises its warrants in full, it will hold 55.6 percent and Morningstar 44.4 percent.
Deregulation opens up an entirely new opportunity for investors there.
We hope Morningstar Japan K.K. can play an important role by providing the same kind of unbiased, reliable and timely information we use in our operations in the United States to help investors in Japan make better investment decisions. With Japanese deregulation enabling banks to sell mutual funds at their retail counters and allowing individuals in Japan to directly hold foreign assets, the joint venture will provide comprehensive investment information services, initially with a special focus on the mutual fund area. Morningstar Japan K.K. plans to redistribute existing Morningstar print and software products in Japan as well as produce a new line of Japanese-language print, software and Internet products directed to the professional financial community and private investors. These will include a variety of services and products with information obtained from the Investment Trust Association and a selection of other reliable sources. One of the first new products planned is a Japanese version of the Morningstar Principia CD-ROM software, with a release scheduled for the last quarter of 1998.