Tha SoftBank Group Corp. plans to file Monday to raise at least $ 500 million through a blank check company, said someone familiar with the situation, cracking down on investors’ commitment to the controversial listing vehicles.
The special purpose construction company, or SPAC, will be led by SoftBank Investment Advisors, which also runs the Vision Fund. It will be used to buy a company that SoftBank has not previously invested in, according to the person who requested not to be named because the plans are private. The news of the time was at first reported Sunday by Axios.
Kenichi Yuasa, a Tokyo-based spokesperson at SoftBank Group, declined to comment.
Rajeev Misra, head of the Vision Fund, first revealed plans for the SPAC in an interview with Bloomberg News at the Milken Institute ‘s inaugural conference in October. At the time, he said details would be announced within two weeks. It is unclear what caused the delay.
The blank check campaign combines Vision Fund’s expertise in startup technology with SoftBank’s relatively new emphasis on public stock trading.
SPACs require investors to invest in stocks before they know which company will get their return. The SPAC manager then selects a company, usually a privately traded company, and pursues a merger that allows the start-up work to begin in public and take ownership of the capital raised.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Citigroup Inc. managing the deal, Axios said.
SPACs have been criticized as a more expensive way to bring companies to the public than traditional original public offerings and have been linked to false evaluations. But the approach can allow experienced sponsors to help lead growing companies. For SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son, who has supported hundreds of start-ups in a career, such a vehicle may give him a new way to invest in tighter companies while tapping on it. the public markets yielding for money.
– Supported by Takahiko Hyuga