SoftBank closes record US $93bil investment fund

LONDON: SoftBank Group Corp and Saudi Arabia formally announced the first round of capital commitments for the largest-ever technology investment fund, as founder Masayoshi Son seeks to accelerate his financing of cutting-edge technologies and startups.

More than US $93bil has been secured from backers led by the Japanese company and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, SoftBank said in a statement on Saturday.

Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Co, Apple Inc, Qualcomm Inc, Foxconn Technology Group and Sharp Corp are also investing, and SoftBank aims to reach US$100bil with a final close within six months. Mubadala committed US$15bil, according to a separate statement.

The Vision Fund will allow the billionaire Son to cut even more ambitious deals than he’s been able to do with his highly leveraged company. He has used money from his domestic telecom operations to pay for investments in startups in China, India and the US and for acquisitions of larger companies such as UK chipmaker ARM Holdings Plc and US wireless operator Sprint Corp. Now he sees richer opportunities than ever before in areas like artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things.

“SoftBank has long made bold investments in transformative technologies and supported disruptive entrepreneurs,” Son said in the statement. “The SoftBank Vision Fund is consistent with this strategy and will help build and grow businesses creating the foundational platforms of the next stage of the Information Revolution.”

Yasir Alrumay yan, managing director of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, said the fund will help his country’s strategy of developing “a diversified, knowledge-based economy”. Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, chief executive officer of Mubadala, said the SoftBank fund “perfectly complements” the company’s strategy to become an investor in high-growth technology companies.

Son has made tens of billions from investments in companies including Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, Yahoo! Inc and Supercell Oy, and the new fund will pursue a similar strategy of backing technology companies at all stages. The US will be a focus after Son met with President Donald Trump in December and pledged to create 50,000 new jobs by investing US $50bil in startups and new companies.

That same month, Softbank contributed US$1bil to a funding round in OneWeb Ltd, a satellite startup based at Exploration Park, Florida.