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After WeWork, the Market is Concerned About SoftBank's Massive Debt Load Again
- Shares drop most in 2 1/2 months, newest bond’s price falls
- Concern debt metric to rise, though below company’s target
Pedestrians walk past signage for SoftBank Group Corp. outside a store in Tokyo.
Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Concern about SoftBank Group Corp.’s massive debt load has reared its head again after the company unveiled a $9.5 billion bailout for WeWork last week, hurting its shares and bonds.
While the price tag for SoftBank to rescue the debt-riddled U.S. shared-office startup isn’t seen as big relative to its total investment portfolio, concern is growing about the impact on its leverage. Analysts expect its loan-to-value ratio, a key metric looking at its net interest-bearing debt against the value of investments, to rise as a result of the WeWork acquisition, though they generally see it staying below the company’s target.