AKIPRESS.COM - Rakuten Inc. agreed to buy U.S. rebates website Ebates Inc. in Japan’s largest e-commerce deal as the operator of the country’s biggest online mall seeks overseas growth through acquisitions, said Bloomberg.

Rakuten, controlled by billionaire Hiroshi Mikitani, will pay $1 billion in cash for all of Ebates, it said in a filing to the Tokyo Stock Exchange today. San Francisco-based Ebates offers cash rebates to customers who buy products ranging from laptops to lipsticks from the website’s retail partners.

The deal comes after Rakuten announced 18 acquisitions since the start of last year, and the cybermall operator said in June it’s open to more large-scale buys following its bond debut.

Tokyo-based Rakuten bought messaging service Viber Media Inc. for $905 million in March, Japan’s biggest e-commerce deal at the time according to data compiled by Bloomberg.