Softbank aims to close USD 100 bn fund for tech sector in 6 month
The fund will be invested based on advise by Softbank's SB Investment Advisers headed by Indian born Rajeev Misra.
New Delhi: Japanese conglomerate Softbank today said that it has freezed USD 93 billion capital for its Softbank Vision Fund that will be invested in the technology sector and expects total commitment in it to reach USD 100 billion in six months.
The fund will be invested based on advise by Softbank's wholly-owned subsidiary of SB Investment Advisers that will be headed by Indian born Rajeev Misra. "The SoftBank Vision Fund today announced its first major close with over USD 93 billion of committed capital," Softbank said in a statement.
In addition to SoftBank Group Corp (SBG) and the Public Investment Fund of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (PIF), investors in the fund also include the Mubadala Investment Company of the United Arab Emirates, Apple Inc, Foxconn Technology Group, Qualcomm Incorporated and Sharp Corporation.
"The fund is targeting a total of USD 100 billion of committed capital, with a final close within six months," the statement said. The Softbank Vision Fund, will target long-term investments in companies and foundational platform businesses that seek to enable the next age of innovation.
"Rajeev Misra will serve as the CEO of SB Investment Advisers and will be a member of the Investment Committee. He will play a key role in all Fund transactions, supported by a highly-experienced global team across offices in London, San Carlos, and Tokyo," the statement said.
The fund will seek to acquire minority and majority interests in both private and public companies, from emerging technology businesses to established, multi-billion dollar companies requiring substantial growth funding, the statement said.
Besides, it will also have the right to acquire certain investments already acquired ,or agreed to be acquired, by the SoftBank Group, including 24.99 per cent of its holding in
electronic chipset technology firm ARM and investments in Guardant Health, Intelsat, Nvidia, OneWeb and SoFi.
Softbank has made substantial investments in Indian firms like Snapdeal, Ola and most recent being USD 1.4 billion (over Rs 9,079 crore) in digital payment firm Paytm.
The new capital is expected to be active across a wide range of technology sectors, "including but not limited to" IoT (internet of things), artificial intelligence, robotics, mobile applications and computing, communications infrastructure and telecoms, computational biology and other data-driven business models, cloud technologies and software, consumer internet businesses and financial technology.