Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

SoftBank 'anxiously' monitoring Saudi Arabia situation: executive

Published 10/16/2018, 11:49 PM
Updated 10/16/2018, 11:49 PM
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: People walk behind the logo of SoftBank Corp in Tokyo

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: People walk behind the logo of SoftBank Corp in Tokyo

By Stephen Nellis

SAN JOSE, Calif. (Reuters) - SoftBank Group (T:9984) Chief Operating Officer Marcelo Claure said on Tuesday it is "business at usual" at companies backed by its nearly $100 billion Vision Fund despite a tense situation with Saudi Arabia, which provided nearly half of the fund's capital.

Claure spoke at a technology conference in San Jose, California for British chip design firm Arm Holdings, which was acquired by SoftBank Group in 2016 for $32 billion. Claure said SoftBank is "anxiously looking at what is happening" regarding the fate of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who disappeared after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last week.

"We, like most parties in the world, are watching events unfold," Claure said. "We are just monitoring."

SoftBank's $93 billion Vision Fund has become one of the primary funding vehicles for technology companies around the world. Saudi Arabia provided $45 billion for the fund, and unease over SoftBank's ties to the kingdom dragged down its shares earlier this week.

The shares recovered 2.88 percent to 9,862 yen by midday on Wednesday, but were still down around 8 percent from a month earlier.

SoftBank is also raising a second $100 billion Vision Fund. Earlier this month, Saudi Crown Price Mohammed bin Salman told Bloomberg that the country's Public Investment Fund would contribute $45 billion to the second Vision Fund. Claure declined to comment to reporters on whether SoftBank would accept the capital if it were offered.

"There's no certainty," he said. "We don't have a date" for the closing of the second Vision Fund, he said.

The Vision Fund acquired a 25 percent stake in Arm from SoftBank last year, among the fund's largest deals to date for SoftBank Chief Executive Masayoshi Son. The British chip design firm licenses its technology to chipmakers such as Qualcomm Inc (O:QCOM) and phone makers such as Apple Inc (O:AAPL) to power mobile devices and other technologies. The companies' chip designs have begun working their way into data centers, where they compete with Intel Corp (O:INTC).

Arm Chief Executive Simon Segars said the company has been able to expand rapidly under SoftBank's ownership, hiring 2,000 people in the past two years for a total of 6,000 employees.

He said Arm was still profitable but less so than when it was a public company and was working with other SoftBank Vision Fund Firms, for example by striking a deal with SoftBank-backed Sprint Corp (N:S) around so-called internet of things technology.

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: People walk behind the logo of SoftBank Corp in Tokyo

"That saves Sprint from engineering something very similar to what we already had. That lets us both go faster," Segars said.

Latest comments

The amount of money changing hands is amazing. $45 Billion in the first round and potentially another $45 Billion in the new vision fund. The Saudis will reach a quick $100 Billion investment with SoftBank at that rate.
its hard to bank on softbank
Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.