SoftBank is making another high-stakes move in its AI expansion, turning to the overseas bond market to fuel its latest investments.
The firm aims to raise $2.9 billion, launching a $2 billion sale of dollar notes in two parts and €750 million ($871 million) in euro-denominated bonds, Bloomberg reports.
The longer-dollar tranche will yield about 8.25%, while the euro bond is slated to yield 6.5%, according to people familiar with the offering.
The fundraising marks SoftBank’s second overseas issuance of the year and underscores founder Masayoshi Son’s aggressive financing strategy. Son has pledged as much as $500 billion over four years for the Stargate AI initiative and announced plans earlier this year for a $30 billion stake in OpenAI.
The company’s latest bond deal follows an April issuance of ¥600 billion ($4 billion) targeting retail investors, one of the largest such offerings ever in Japan.
During a global investor call on Tuesday, SoftBank’s executives said they still plan to complete the $30 billion OpenAI investment by year-end, though they did not provide a specific timeline or disclose the firm’s current stake.
Stargate represents one of the largest private-sector buildouts of computing power in history. OpenAI has teamed up with SoftBank Group and Oracle to construct 4.5 gigawatts of capacity.
In September, Son said SoftBank’s role in the Stargate project goes beyond financing.
“Stargate is harnessing SoftBank’s innovative data center design and energy expertise to deliver the scalable compute that powers AI’s future. Together with OpenAI, Arm, and our Stargate partners, we are paving the way for a new era where AI advances humanity.”
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