Japan’s SoftBank Group (OTC:SFTBY) is launching a $11.1 billion sale of dollar- and euro-denominated bonds.
On Thursday, the Masayoshi Son-led company announced that it is offering $1 billion in dollar-denominated senior notes due in 3.5 years, along with $4.5 billion each in notes maturing in 5.5 years and 7.5 years. The notes carry interest rates of 8.625%, 9.25% and 9.75%, respectively.
SoftBank said the bond proceeds will fund the $10 billion third and final tranche of its $30 billion follow-on investment in OpenAI, expected to close Oct. 1, with the remainder earmarked for general corporate purposes.
The company is also selling two €500 million (about $569.60 million) tranches of euro-denominated senior notes, with four- and six-year maturities and yields of 7.125% and 8%, respectively.
SoftBank Seeks More Financing Power
The bond sale comes in the wake of SoftBank’s efforts to increase its financing capacity for its massive investment in OpenAI. Last week, a report suggested that Apollo Global Management (NYSE:APO) is in talks to increase its loan to SoftBank’s Vision Fund II from $5.4 billion to as much as $9 billion. This follows Apollo’s previous financing extensions to SoftBank’s venture capital arm in 2021.
During its fourth-quarter earnings call, a SoftBank executive said that the company could use its OpenAI holdings as collateral for financing, including through a margin loan. The Japanese conglomerate has committed nearly $65 billion to OpenAI while pursuing major AI investments, including Stargate-linked data centers, U.S. AI infrastructure, expanding Arm Holdings (NASDAQ:ARM), and its planned acquisition of ABB Robotics (OTC:ABBNY).
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Image via Shutterstock
Login to comment