The chairman of Japanese internet giant Softbank (TYO:9984) reportedly considered a management buyout earlier this year, but could not agree on financing conditions with an overseas partner.
The chairman of Japanese internet giant Softbank (TYO:9984) reportedly considered a management buyout earlier this year, but could not agree on financing conditions with an overseas partner.
It would have been the biggest management buyout ever, possibly costing about US$70bn to buy the 80.7% that Masayoshi Son does not already own, reported Bloomberg.
The plans had included at least one lender before being scrapped at least three months ago, added the report.
Softbank has declined to comment.
High debt levels and concerns over the ability of its US telco Sprint (NYSE:S) to compete in a highly competitive market have weighed on Softbank’s share price.
Son admitted in August that he had last year lost confidence in the US market after regulators dashed hopes of a merger with T-Mobile US. An earlier report claimed he had floated the idea of selling Sprint but found no willing buyers.
However, amid signs of a turnaround in Sprint’s business, Softbank recently embarked on a near-US$1bn share buyback plan, also raising its stake in the US telco from slightly under 80% to about 82% in a show of confidence.
Softbank also owns sizeable stakes in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba and internet group Yahoo Japan. It has made a number of internet-related overseas acquisitions recently, including a US$1bn investment in Korea’s largest online retailer Coupang, and others in countries such as India and Indonesia.