TOKYO, May 14 (Reuters) - SoftBank-backed LY Corp ( YAHOF )

on Thursday said it and Bain Capital have lifted their

bid for Kakaku.com ( KKKUF ), valuing the online marketplace at

$4 billion and above a rival offer from Swedish investment firm

EQT.

* LY, which owns messaging app LINE and Yahoo Japan, said

they are now offering 3,232 yen per share in an all-cash deal.

That is up from 3,000 yen per share they offered a week ago. EQT

has also offered 3,000 yen per share in a deal backed by

Kakaku.com's ( KKKUF ) board announced on Tuesday.

* "Amid the current period of transformation driven by the

rise of generative AI, the businesses operated by

Kakaku.com...are considered to have extremely high strategic

value," LY said.

* Kakaku.com ( KKKUF ) shares were trading around 3,400 yen, down

0.5%, indicating that some investors expect the bidding war to

continue. LY shares were down 0.7%.

* Kakaku.com ( KKKUF ) operates price comparison site Kakaku.com ( KKKUF ),

restaurant review and reservation platform Tabelog and job

search service Kyujin Box.

* Kakaku.com ( KKKUF ) said on Tuesday when announcing that it was

recommending EQT's offer, that Digital Garage ( DLGEF ) and KDDI ( KDDIF )

, which together hold 38.1% of the company, had agreed

to sell their shares.