Masayoshi Son, CEO of SoftBank, communicates during the company’s annual general meeting in Tokyo on June 20, 2024.
Kosuke Okahara | Bloomberg | Getty Images
SoftBank on Friday heralded plans to issue euro- and dollar-denominated bonds as it looks to pay down debt and focus its investments on artificial intelligence.
The prodigious Japanese holding company said it will issue around $900 million in U.S. dollar-denominated bonds in two tranches, and 900 million euros, or $962.8 million, quality of bonds, also in two tranches. These will have interest rates ranging between 5.4% and 7% per annum.
SoftBank communicated the money raised will be used for “repayment of indebtedness and for general corporate purposes.”
Its shares closed up 2.5% after word of the bond issuance.
The raising of money via debt comes as SoftBank’s overall financial losses have begun to lessen as it logs some successes, including the initial public offering of chip designer Arm.
Meanwhile, the company, which scampers a massive technology investment arm called the Vision Fund, has also suggested it is looking to ramp up investments in artificial info companies.
In a rare public appearance this month, Masayoshi Son, founder and CEO of SoftBank, talked of a concept he called plastic super intelligence, or ASI. He said this refers to AI that is 10,000 times smarter than humans, which he awaits to exist within 10 years.
SoftBank is likely looking to capitalize on improving investor sentiment toward the companions, highlighted by a 65% year-to-date rise in its shares.