SoftBank Group

TradingKey - During Asian trading on July 17, Japanese media reported that SoftBank Group plans to issue bonds worth approximately 60 billion yen (about 369 million US dollars) to Japanese institutional investors this month to raise funds for AI-related investments. According to lead underwriter Daiwa Securities, SoftBank will issue three-year bonds worth approximately 50 billion yen and five-year bonds worth about 10 billion yen in the week of July 27. This is not the first time SoftBank has raised funds through bond issuance this year. 18 billion US dollars) by issuing subordinated bonds to individual investors and entered the US and European bond markets in April.

Analyses suggest that this new bond issuance further highlights SoftBank's growing financing needs amid its continuous expansion in the AI sector. SoftBank's massive investments in OpenAI continue to progress. In February this year, SoftBank announced an additional 30 billion US dollar investment in OpenAI in three tranches, with 10 billion US dollars to be provided in April, July, and October, respectively. SoftBank had previously confirmed that the first tranche was fully implemented in April. On July 1, SoftBank completed the second 10 billion US dollar capital injection through Vision Fund 2.

6 billion US dollars, with an equity stake of approximately 13%. However, SoftBank's fundraising through other channels has not been entirely smooth. According to earlier reports, SoftBank had originally planned to apply for a securities-backed loan of at least 10 billion US dollars, secured by its stake in OpenAI. However, this plan was temporarily put on hold as banks remained cautious given the valuation of private equity stakes. SoftBank subsequently lowered its target volume to approximately 6 billion US dollars.