From Bloomberg via The Edge, Singapore, August 26:
SoftBank Group Corp is talking with investment banks about a potential US$10 billion to US$20 billion bond offering to help refinance a loan for its investment in US tech giant OpenAI, according to people familiar with the matter.
The offering could be denominated in dollars and euros and could come as early as September, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private matters. The talks are still ongoing and details could change, the people added.
Proceeds from the sale would partly be used to repay a US$40 billion bridge loan secured earlier this year for its OpenAI investment, the people said. Junk-rated SoftBank, founded and led by billionaire Masayoshi Son, is slated to invest close to US$65 billion in OpenAI by October, funded in part by loans.
The bond sale would add to a slew of fundraising by companies looking to deepen their reach into artificial intelligence, despite concerns about growing credit risks and whether these investments will actually pay off. Some firms are turning to junk bond investors for AI-related funding, even for debt that is investment-grade, as competition for capital heats up.
US tech firms, meanwhile, are planning to pour trillions of dollars into data centres and other AI infrastructure in the coming years. Companies have already borrowed more than US$410 billion so far this year for such facilities and other AI investments in the bond markets alone, according to data compiled by Bloomberg News....
....MUCH MORE
My favorite Son quote was his advice to Adam Neumann of WeWork (Softbank's investment in WeWork eventually totaled $16 billion):
“I told Adam not to be proud that WeWork was growing organically without a large sales force or spending big marketing dollars,” Softbank boss Masayoshi Son told Forbes after Softbank’s first investment in 2017. “Make it ten times bigger than your original plan. If you think in that manner, the valuation is cheap.” He added, “It can be worth a few hundred billion dollars.”
That may be some of the worst career advice ever. But probably not the worst:
an internship at the white house will be amazing on your resume. 😳
— Monica Lewinsky (she/her) (@MonicaLewinsky) July 14, 2019
