Japanese tycoon investing £80bn into UK tech firms opens London HQ
THE City’s reputation as a major tech hub received another boost as Japanese firm Softbank opened an office in London as the base for its £80bn investment fund.
The firm, run by Japan’s second richest man, Masayoshi Son, will open offices in upmarket Mayfair for its Softbank Vision Fund private equity group.
Bosses hope it will become the world’s biggest investor in technology over the next decade. The investment is seen as a major boost to the City as Son is one of the globe’s leading tech pioneers. Earlier in the summer he bought British microchip designer ARM Holdings for £24.3bn.
Rajesh Agrawal, deputy London mayor for business, said the new offices in Grosvenor Square were ‘a further boost for the capital’s burgeoning tech industry’.
‘Softbank’s decision to move to the capital shows that London is open to talent and entrepreneurship and the best place in the world to grow a business,’ he said. Ten people have been hired so far for the offices, with possibly dozens to follow.
London has been named as the best EU capital city for digital entrepreneurs for two years running due to its strong venture capital industry and financial services firms. Announcing the fund in October, Softbank’s chief executive said it would allow the company to ‘step up investments in technology companies globally’.
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund could contribute an extra £35bn over the next five years as the fund’s lead partner.
Recent investments by Softbank include £795m into South Korean mobile commerce giant Coupang, and contributing to a £3.6bn fund for Chinese taxi-calling app Didi Chuxing Technology. Son has also promised to invest £40bn in US start-ups.
When it bought ARM Holdings in July, Softbank said it would create at least 1,500 new jobs at the chip designer over the next five years and keep its headquarters in Cambridge.
The deal was hailed by Prime Minister Theresa May as ‘clear vote of confidence in Britain’ following its decision to leave the EU, although some warned about the trend of tech firms getting snapped up by overseas investors once they reached a certain size.