SoftBank Group Corp.’s Vision Fund is in talks with many banks, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc, to raise a loan of $4 Billion. For collateral, the Fund is planning to put up its stakes in Uber Technologies Inc (which just went public), Slack Technologies Inc (which is set to go public soon), and blood-testing company Guardant Health Inc.
SoftBank Investment Advisers (UK) Limited is the largest shareholder in both Uber, with a 12.88% stake, and Guardant Health, with a 30.74% stake, according to Refinitiv data. Slack Technologies Inc. plans to make its market debut on June 20.
SoftBank’s founder Masayoshi Son has been seeking capital, as the company looks to set up another fund targeted towards financing artificial intelligence startups. This isn’t the first time SoftBank is seeking a loan. Last year, the company was in talks with banks to arrange for its Japanese wireless business listing amounting to a couple of billion dollars. It was also reportedly in talks to borrow $8 Billion from a group of banks against its stake in online retailer Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.
The company has also ascertained various other avenues for pumping cash into its various funds, including raising more capital, persuading stake-backed investors in Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi to waive their rights to debt repayments, and taking up more bank loans.
The Vision Fund’s portfolio currently includes Brandless, Coupang, Fanatics, Firstcry, GetYourGuide, Klook, Oyo, Plenty, Tokopedia, Wag!, Cambridge Mobile Telematics, Cohesity, Globality, MapBox, OSIsoft, Slack, Greensill, Kabbage, OneConnect, Paytm, PolicyBazaar, ZhongAn Insurance, Arm, Automation Anywhere, BrainCorp, Improbable, Light, Nvidia, Petuum, Guardant Health, Ping An Good Doctor, Ping An Health Connect, Relay Therapeutics, Roivant, Vir, Zymergen, Clutter, Compass, Katerra, OpenDoor, View, WeWork, Alibaba, Auto1, Delhivery, DiDi, DoorDash, Fair, Flexport, Grab, Grofers, Nuro and Uber.
