Sunday, November 17

Tag: Masayoshi Son

Walmart Planning to Launch Flipkart’s IPO in Next 4 years
13May By AnkitaNo Comments
News

Walmart Planning to Launch Flipkart’s IPO in Next 4 years

US retail giant Walmart Inc mentioned in its report to US security exchange that they may come up with an initial public offer (IPO) of Flipkart as early as four years. Walmart in its report said IPO will be at "a valuation no less than that paid by Walmart under the share issuance agreement, subject to the satisfaction of certain other conditions regarding such offering (the IPO)". Which means Walmart can issue the shares of Flipkart at the valuation of $16 billion that it paid to other investors of Flipkart to acquire the 77% shares of Flipkart. Also, the report added, "Shareholders agreement would expire upon the consummation of the IPO, whether initiated by the board or the minority stockholders". "Pursuant to a Registration Rights Agreement to be entered into concurrently wi...
Read More
SoftBank Undecided on Selling its 22% Stake in Flipkart
11May By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments
News

SoftBank Undecided on Selling its 22% Stake in Flipkart

New Delhi: SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son yet not decided to sell its 20-22% stake in Flipkart to Walmart Inc., sources close to the company told to Pixr8 News. After seeing the valuation of the company, Masayoshi Son is in dilemma and will take a call in the next 7-10 days on whether to exit India’s biggest online retailer or stay invested for a long time. If SoftBank decides not to sell its stake then Walmart left with about 55% stake of Flipkart. All other significant shareholders like Naspers, venture fund Accel Partners and eBay had confirmed selling their shares in Flipkart to Walmart. Though on Wednesday, Us retail giant Walmart Inc has announced that it will pay about $16 billion to buy 77% stake in Flipkart. A statement issued by Walmart identified Flipkart co-founder Binny B...
Read More
Will SoftBank Ditch Uber And Invest In Rival Lyft?
7Nov By RishabhNo Comments
BUSINESS

Will SoftBank Ditch Uber And Invest In Rival Lyft?

SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son on Monday said he could still walk away from the deal between SoftBank Group Corp and Uber, after the negotiations for stake in the cab aggregator platform. He also added that perhaps the company may even invest in Uber's rival Lyft. “Depending on the price and conditions, it is wholly possible we could shift our investment to the other main company Lyft. It is wholly possible,” Son said at a press conference following SoftBank’s second-quarter earnings. “We won’t know until the very end.” The negotiations are on regarding the price of the stakes in Uber, half of which will come from existing Uber shareholders, and if arriving at a price becomes difficult, he will invest in Lyft Inc. He also mentioned about the conditions such as the number of board members, th...
Read More
SoftBank To ‘Outperform’ And Its Shares Could Rally 36% Soon: Report
20Oct By AnkitaNo Comments
ANALYSIS, BUSINESS

SoftBank To ‘Outperform’ And Its Shares Could Rally 36% Soon: Report

Chris Lane thinks investors haven't realised what Masayoshi Son is trying to do at SoftBank Group Corp. The Sanford C. Bernstein analyst just initiated coverage of the Japanese company with an “outperform” rating and a forecast that shares could rally 36% over the next year. Investors still see SoftBank as primarily a telecommunications company, he says, even though its core business is investing in technology. There are similarities to Berkshire Hathaway Inc., the US company led by Warren Buffett, he explains. While Berkshire uses cash from its insurance business to invest in railroads, ice cream shops and Coca-Cola, SoftBank taps cash from its telecoms operations to back startups in ride-hailing, artificial intelligence, e-commerce and robots. Yet SoftBank trades at a discount of m...
Read More
SoftBank Makes Biggest Ever Investment In Indian Internet Space In Flipkart
10Aug By AdityaNo Comments
FUNDING, News

SoftBank Makes Biggest Ever Investment In Indian Internet Space In Flipkart

Indian ecommerce giant Flipkart has raised a record breaking funding of at least $2.5 billion from SoftBank Vision Fund, making its rival Amazon a huge blow and claiming its dominance in the market. The latest round of funding takes Flipkart’s cash reserves to more than $4 billion. Although, Flipkart didn’t disclose the amount, but said that the SoftBank investment comprises a mix of primary (investment in the company) and secondary capital (purchase of shares from existing shareholders). The amount invested will be somewhere around $2.5 billion in Flipkart, 3 people from the inside told, upon the condition of anonymity. There have been reports about the SoftBank's interest in investing in Indian ecommerce giant Flipkart, after the acquisition of Snapdeal by Flipkart didn't work out....
Read More
Why This Agriculture Startup Raised Largest-ever Funding From Softbank Vision Fund
20Jul By AdityaNo Comments
News

Why This Agriculture Startup Raised Largest-ever Funding From Softbank Vision Fund

Plenty, the leading field-scale indoor farming company remaking the global food system, announced today a $200 million Series B funding round led by the SoftBank Vision Fund, making it the largest agriculture technology investment in history. Other participants in the round include existing backers such as DCM Ventures and funds that invest on behalf of Alphabet’s Eric Schmidt and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos. (more…)
Read More
SoftBank Invests in Industrial Software Firm OSIsoft
2Jun By reutersNo Comments
FUNDING

SoftBank Invests in Industrial Software Firm OSIsoft

SoftBank Group Corp said on Wednesday it was taking a significant minority stake in OSIsoft LLC, a privately held maker of industrial software used to manage plants and factories. The world's largest industrial companies, from General Electric Co to Siemens AG, have been incorporating more software into their manufacturing to cut costs and improve their supply chains. SoftBank is buying out venture capital investors KleinerPerkins Caufield & Byers, TCV and Tola Capital, it said in a statement. Japan's Mitsui & Co will remain an investor. The investment is in the "high hundreds of millions" and values OSIsoft at several billion dollars, people familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity because of the confidential terms. SoftBank and OSIsoft declined to comme...
Read More
Softbank-Saudi Tech Fund Becomes World’s Biggest With $93 Billion of Capital
21May By reutersNo Comments
FUNDING

Softbank-Saudi Tech Fund Becomes World’s Biggest With $93 Billion of Capital

The world's largest private equity fund, backed by Japan's Softbank Group and Saudi Arabia's main sovereign wealth fund, said on Saturday it had raised over $93 billion to invest in technology sectors such as artificial intelligence and robotics. "The next stage of the Information Revolution is under way, and building the businesses that will make this possible will require unprecedented large-scale, long-term investment," the Softbank Vision Fund said in a statement. Japanese billionaire Masayoshi Son, chairman of Softbank, a telecommunications and tech investment group, revealed plans for the fund last October and since then it has obtained commitments from some of the world's most deep-pocketed investors. In addition to Softbank and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), the ...
Read More
SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son Looks For Industry Specialists For Its Investment Fund
20May By reutersNo Comments
News

SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son Looks For Industry Specialists For Its Investment Fund

Deep Nishar spends more time roaming university hallways than he does corporate boardrooms. A former electrical engineer who helped develop Google's mobile phone business and grow LinkedIn's users from 30 million to half a billion, Nishar is exactly the sort of industry specialist that SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son wants for his new $100 billion technology investment vehicle. Son, Japan's richest man, is expected to announce on Saturday the close of the first fundraising round for what will be the world's biggest private equity fund. Its backers, including Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund and Apple, expect technology investments that will match or beat the 44% internal rate of return that SoftBank says Son has delivered by investing in internet companies in the last 18 years. ...
Read More
Now Softbank Said Paytm Karo, Invested $1.4 Billion in Paytm
18May By AnkitaNo Comments
FUNDING

Now Softbank Said Paytm Karo, Invested $1.4 Billion in Paytm

Japanese conglomerate SoftBank has pumped in USD 1.4 billion (over Rs 9,079 crore) in Indian digital payments platform, Paytm, marking the largest fund infusion by a single investor in an Indian start-up. This is Softbanks largest investment in a single company in India. While both the companies have declined to comment on the valuation, market watchers say that the deal values Paytm at about USD 8 billion. The funding will help Paytm expand fast its soon-to-be launched payments bank operations as well as grow its user base and introduce more financial products for consumers. SoftBank joins Alibaba and its payments affiliate Ant Financial as amongst the largest investors in One97 Communications which operates Paytm. Interestingly, SoftBank was an early investor in Alibaba. "In ...
Read More