SoftBank is reportedly committing $40 billion for its second mega fund
Published Thu, Jul 25 2019 2:02 AM EDT
Saheli Roy Choudhury
CNBC.com
- Japanese conglomerate SoftBank is expected to invest $40 billion into its second tech-focused mega fund, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday evening.
- SoftBank’s board is set to meet Thursday to approve the investment, people familiar with the matter told the Journal.
- The sequel to the massive $100 billion first Vision Fund has an unlikely array of backers including Apple, Goldman Sachs and Standard Chartered, the WSJ said.
Masayoshi Son, chairman and chief executive officer of SoftBank Group at the SoftBank World 2018 event in Tokyo, Japan.
Kiyoshi Ota | Bloomberg | Getty Images
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Japanese conglomerate SoftBank is expected to invest $40 billion into its second tech-focused mega fund, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday evening.
SoftBank’s board is due to meet Thursday to approve the funding, according to the Journal, citing people familiar with the matter.
The sequel to the massive $100 billion first Vision Fund has unlikely backers including Apple, Goldman Sachs and Standard Chartered, according to the Journal. It added that Goldman hopes to secure work for IPOs when the fund’s portfolio companies eventually go public.
SoftBank, Apple, Goldman Sachs and Standard Chartered did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment.
The second fund also aims to raise $100 billion, SoftBank said in May.
The first fund was backed by the sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi, as well as tech companies such as Apple, Qualcomm and Taiwan’s Foxconn, formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry. The first fund delivered about 45% rate of return to partners after fees on a net equity basis.
The Journal said in its report that unnamed sources said both Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi have indicated they are likely to invest again, but Riyadh’s commitment will be less than the $45 billion it put into the first fund.
Vision Fund I is known for investing billions of dollars into global technology and telecommunication companies around the world. Those include Uber, Slack, The We Company, formerly known as WeWork, India’s One97 Communications, which owns online payment services company Paytm, and e-commerce firm Flipkart.
In March, SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son told CNBC’s David Faber that the fund already invested about $70 billion of its money.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/25/softbank-is-reportedly-committing-40-billion-for-its-second-mega-fund.html |
