Apple Inc has held talks to invest up to USD 1 billion in a new USD 100 billion tech fund being set up by Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.
SoftBank is investing at least USD 25 billion in the fund and has been in talks with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) for an investment that could go up to USD 45 billion.
SoftBank has said it plans to make future large-scale investments via the tech fund, rather than on its own. Some of SoftBank’s moves have caused concern among analysts, as the firm wrestles with a 13.7 trillion-yen (USD 119 billion) debt pile.
SoftBank and Apple were not immediately available for comment.
Through the investment, Apple would hope to gain insight on emerging technologies, the Journal said, adding that the status of the talks could not be learned.