SoftBank

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SoftBank Said in Talks to Invest $1.4 Billion in India's Paytm

by Saritha Rai and Pavel Alpeyev
May 2, 2017, 8:24 AM GMT+8

SoftBank Group Corp. is in talks to invest about $1.4 billion in India’s One97 Communications Ltd. in a deal that would value the owner of the country’s largest digital-payments provider at about $7 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.

The deal is not yet finalized and the terms may yet change, said the people, asking not to be identified because the matter is private. One97 Communications, whose Paytm unit has seen business surge as India took most of its paper bills from circulation, has also had discussions with two other investors, one of the people said. The company was last valued at $4.2 billion, according to research firm CB Insights.

The Paytm deal would be a vote of confidence in the India market amidst a brutal downturn in the venture market. Hundreds of fledgling companies are cutting staff or closing their doors. Indeed, SoftBank is said to be pressing Snapdeal, an Indian e-commerce provider it backs, to merge operations with market leader Flipkart Online Services Pvt. in what would be a dramatic sign of consolidation in the market.

More details in https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/...ia-s-paytm

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SoftBank Leads $502 Million Investment in U.K. Tech Startup

by Jeremy Kahn
May 12, 2017, 5:15 AM GMT+8

SoftBank Group Corp. is leading a $502 million investment in Improbable Worlds Ltd., a London-based virtual reality startup, in one of the U.K.’s largest venture capital deals.

The valuation wasn’t disclosed. But SoftBank is buying a non-controlling stake, which would mean Improbable is worth at least $1.04 billion. The deal would rank as the fifth-largest U.K. venture investment in the past decade, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, Hong Kong-based venture firm Horizon Ventures and Singapore state-owned investment company Temasek Holdings, which participated in a $22 million investment round in Improbable in March 2015, are also committing new funds. The five-year-old startup creates virtual worlds for gaming and massive-scale simulations of the real world.

More details in https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/...ch-startup

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SoftBank Invests $100 Million in Security Startup Cybereason

By Sarah McBride
June 22, 2017, 3:31 AM GMT+8

Cybereason Inc. raised $100 million from SoftBank Group Corp., bringing another cybersecurity business closer to the $1 billion valuation that has become the hallmark of a heavyweight technology startup.

The funding round gives Cybereason, founded by former operatives in Israel’s elite Unit 8200 military intelligence group, a valuation north of $850 million, after factoring in the latest cash infusion, according to a person familiar with the situation.

SoftBank financed the entire round, after leading Cybereason’s previous funding round of $59 million in 2015, the person added. They asked not to be identified speaking about a private investment.

More details in https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/...cybereason

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SoftBank Takes Stake in Roomba-Maker iRobot

By Giles Turner , Dinesh Nair , Ed Hammond , and Alex Sherman
July 26, 2017, 4:08 AM GMT+8 Updated on July 26, 2017, 7:16 AM GMT+8

SoftBank Group Corp. has taken a stake in Roomba vacuum-cleaner maker IRobot Corp., people familiar with the matter said, as the Japanese company builds its holdings in robotics firms.

SoftBank has built a less than 5 percent stake in IRobot, below the amount that would require a regulatory disclosure in the U.S., the people said, asking not to be identified because the purchase was private. The Bedford, Massachusetts-based technology company has a market value of $2.4 billion.

Shares in IRobot rose 22 percent in late trading in New York. Representatives for SoftBank and IRobot declined to comment.

More details in https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/...h-buildout

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SoftBank Is the Berkshire Hathaway of Technology, Bernstein Says

By Julie Verhage
October 20, 2017, 11:24 PM GMT+8

Is Masayoshi Son the next Warren Buffett?

A note from Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. argues that Son’s SoftBank Group Corp. is the next Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

“We like to think of SoftBank as a tech-focused Berkshire Hathaway,” analyst Chris Lane wrote, noting that investor returns have been similarly strong. In fact, Lane finds a lot that the Japanese and U.S. firms have in common.

For starters, both are hard to define, Lane writes. SoftBank uses cash from its core telecommunications operations to invest in companies positioning to be part of the future –- like e-commerce, microprocessor designs and robotics. And there’s not much synergy between many of its units, Lane notes. Sound familiar? Berkshire leverages the cash from its insurance firm to invest into other businesses. Buffett’s company started out in the textile milling industry, but what does that have to do with NetJets Inc. or Coca-Cola Co., two of Berkshire’s most notable investments?

More details in https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/...stein-says

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SoftBank Profit Tops Estimates as Sprint Merger Talks End

By Pavel Alpeyev
November 6, 2017, 2:11 PM GMT+8 Updated on November 6, 2017, 2:33 PM GMT+8

SoftBank Group Corp. reported quarterly profit that topped analysts’ estimates, as its U.S. unit Sprint Corp. faces an uncertain future after talks to merge the carrier with T-Mobile US Inc. collapsed.

Operating profit was 396 billion yen ($3.5 billion) in the period ended September, the Tokyo-based company said in a statement Monday. That’s more than the 322 billion yen average of analysts’ projections compiled by Bloomberg. Sales came in at 2.23 trillion yen, matching predictions.

SoftBank’s founder Masayoshi Son has relied on a steady flow of cash from Japanese wireless and telecom operations to fund new endeavors, while Sprint has struggled to return to profit and stem subscriber losses. After merger talks with T-Mobile fell apart over control, Son needs to find a new way to secure Sprint’s long-term future. The billionaire is also in the process creating the $100 billion SoftBank Vision Fund with the Saudis, Abu Dhabi investor Mubadala Development Co. and other backers to speed up investments in technology startups abroad. Son addressed questions about Sprint’s future and the Vision Fund at a briefing on Monday.

More details in https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/...-talks-end

[weijian]

35bil worth of deals or 1 deal every 4 days in 2017, Son must be 1 of the deal-makers of 2017.

Critics believe he's going to squander everything he's made. Actually VC sees what is possible, not what is probable - Son has made his fortune/fame through this way and so there is no way he wouldn't continue to do so - even though he knows he is on his way to lose 99% of his money but as long as he keeps the faith that the 1% turned out to be the next Alibaba...He is 1 of the biggest shark now and so can he continue to move up the food chain?

Inside the Eccentric, Relentless Deal-Making of Masayoshi Son

Early last year, Cheng Wei, founder and chief executive of the Chinese ride-hailing juggernaut Didi Chuxing, tried to resist taking money from legendary investor Masayoshi Son. Cheng told the SoftBank Group chief he didn’t need the cash because his company had already raised $10 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. Fine, Son said, then suggested he might direct his support to one of Didi’s rivals. Cheng relented and took the investment: $5 billion in the largest fundraising round ever for a tech startup.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/...ayoshi-son

[Wildreamz]

35bil worth of deals or 1 deal every 4 days in 2017, Son must be 1 of the deal-makers of 2017.

Critics believe he's going to squander everything he's made. Actually VC sees what is possible, not what is probable - Son has made his fortune/fame through this way and so there is no way he wouldn't continue to do so - even though he knows he is on his way to lose 99% of his money but as long as he keeps the faith that the 1% turned out to be the next Alibaba...He is 1 of the biggest shark now and so can he continue to move up the food chain?

...

I believe both possibility, and probability are part of the equation. Investment in Didi is one of the safest bet in the ride-hailing space right now (with the support of Alibaba, Tencent and Baidu). Not to mention, the strategic value (eg. potential synergy with his other investments, the strategic partnership with 3 of the biggest sharks in China) involved.

[gzbkel]

Masayoshi Son Plans Push to Cut Discount on SoftBank's Stock

BLOOMBERG
FEB 7, 2018
SoftBank Group Corp.’s Masayoshi Son became technology’s biggest investor over the past year, taking major stakes in ride-hailing, e-commerce and semiconductors. But he doesn’t get much credit for his investment acumen.

SoftBank trades well below the value of its assets, which include equity in public companies like Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Yahoo Japan Corp. The gap has actually widened in recent months to the point where SoftBank’s market capitalization is less than half its holdings, worth at least $180 billion. In the past year SoftBank has seen little change, while its stake in Alibaba alone increased by about $60 billion.
[...]

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/0...nufLSVuaM9

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Japan's SoftBank Eyes $9.6 Billion Stake in Swiss Re

By Manuel Baigorri , Dinesh Nair , and Jan-Henrik Foerster
March 29, 2018, 4:01 AM GMT+8 Updated on March 29, 2018, 3:23 PM GMT+8

Swiss Re AG jumped after people familiar with the matter said Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp. is edging closer to buying a stake in the company, valuing the reinsurer at as much as 37 billion francs ($39 billion).

Billionaire Masayoshi Son’s SoftBank is holding talks to buy a 25 percent stake at about 100 Swiss francs to 105 Swiss francs a share, the people said, declining to be identified as the deliberations are confidential. At 105 francs apiece, the deal would represent a 16 percent premium over Swiss Re shares’ close on Feb. 7 -- before the company confirmed a Wall Street Journal report that it was in talks -- and value the holding at about $9.6 billion.

Swiss Re shares jumped in Zurich on the news, gaining as much as 3.2 percent to 98.20 francs and trading 2.4 percent higher at 97.44 francs as of 9:08 a.m..

More details in https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/...n-swiss-re