To: Glenn Petersen who wrote (57 ) 9/27/2017 4:22:37 AM From: John Pitera 1 RecommendationRecommended By
Read Replies (2) | Respond to SoftBank and Saudi Arabia Team Up for $100 Billion Tech Fund one of the world’s most ambitious tech investors Japanese internet and telecommunications giant SoftBank Group Corp. 9984 +0.26% is teaming up with a Saudi sovereign-wealth fund to create a multibillion-dollar technology-investment fund, in a partnership that combines deep pockets with one of the world’s most ambitious tech investors. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and U.S. mobile carrier Sprint Corp . to U.K. chip designer ARM Holdings PLC, which it bought last month for $32 billion . On Friday, it announced plans to invest at least $25 billion over the next five years through a fund dubbed the SoftBank Vision Fund.Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund may contribute an additional $45 billion over the next five years as the fund’s lead partner, SoftBank said . SoftBank said in a statement that the company was in talks with “a few large global investors” who could eventually push the new fund up to $100 billion to become the world’s “biggest investor” in technology over the next decade. $4.5 billion fundraising round for Chinese ride-hailing champion Didi Chuxing Technology Co. $1 billion into South Korea’s largest mobile commerce company Coupang .selling $10 billion of stock in Alibaba , in which it has a 28% stake, and unloading Finnish mobile game-maker Supercell Oy for $8.6 billion. But it has also borrowed heavily to finance many of its investments and its debt currently has a junk rating. The addition of the Public Investment Fund boosts SoftBank’s investment firepower. The fund is central to Saudi Arabia’s plan to diversify its economy beyond oil . The plunge in crude prices since 2014 has hurt the finances of the kingdom, which depends on oil income for more than two-thirds of government revenue. Last year, Saudi Arabia’s budget deficit was a record $98 billion, or 16% of gross domestic product. PIF, effectively turning it into a war chest for non-oil investments abroad. it invested $3.5 billion in Uber , its largest overseas bet. Riyadh plans to transfer ownership of state-owned oil giant Saudi Arabian Oil Co., or Aramco, to the fund , which Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman estimated will eventually be worth nearly $3 trillion. The PIF is preparing for the twilight of the oil They are looking for another success story like Alibaba .”SoftBank said its head of strategic finance, Rajeev Misra, will head the new fund , and that it has engaged former Deutsche banker Nizar Al-Bassam and ex-Goldman partner Dalinc Ariburnu for the project. SoftBank, established in 1981 by Mr. Son, has a long history of investing in technology and telecommunications ventures. SoftBank was one of the earliest investors in Yahoo Corp. , a bet that proved hugely successful and which the company largely cashed out of by the early 2000s. SoftBank first invested in Alibaba in 2000, when it put $20 million into the then tiny e-commerce company. Since then, Alibaba has become China’s biggest internet shopping mall worth $249 billion, making it Mr. Son’s most successful bet. abruptly stepped down in June after facing a barrage of criticism from investors.Foxconn Technology Group to invest about $20 billion in renewable energy in India , although it is unclear how far the project has advanced since its inception. Mr. Son has also said he wants to invest as much as $10 billion in Indian tech companies and around $4.5 billion in South Korea’s technology sector over the next decade.alexander.martin@wsj.com , Alec Macfarlane at Alec.Macfarlane@wsj.com and Margherita Stancati at margherita.stancati@wsj.com wsj.com
