Deals
SoftBank Will Sell at Least $7.9 Billion of Alibaba Stake
- Japanese company is seeking to boost cash, pay down debt
- Bulk of divestment going into a trust for institutional buyers
Why SoftBank Is Selling at Least $7.9B of Alibaba Stake
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SoftBank Group Corp., the largest investor in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., said it will sell at least $7.9 billion of its stake in the Chinese e-commerce giant to bolster its cash position and pay down debt.
SoftBank has established a new trust with the intention of divesting $5 billion in Alibaba’s American depositary receipts in a private placement “to qualified institutional buyers,” the Japanese company said in a statement Tuesday. SoftBank will also sell $2 billion in shares back to Alibaba, $400 million to members of the Alibaba Partnership of senior executives and $500 million to a major sovereign wealth fund.