TOKYO (Reuters) – SoftBank Group Corp Chief Executive Masayoshi Son said at an annual shareholders’ meeting on Thursday the equity value of the group’s holdings has recovered to pre-coronavirus pandemic levels.
The coronavirus crisis had previously compounded losses at his $100 billion Vision Fund.
The comment comes a day after wireless carrier T-Mobile US Inc priced a sale of its shares in a deal that will see SoftBank divest a portion of its stake – a major step in the Japanese conglomerate’s plan to sell assets.
That in turn followed SoftBank’s unveiling of a series of transactions on Monday to divest more than $20 billion of stock in T-Mobile, as it seeks funding for a $41 billion share buyback and debt reduction plan.
The injection of funds will relieve pressure on SoftBank after investments from Son and his Vision Fund have soured and hammered the group’s earnings.
(Reporting by Sam Nussey; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman; Editing by Christopher Cushing)
