SoftBank launches record bond sale to fund AI investments

SoftBank Group announced plans on August 24 to raise 1 trillion yen, approximately $6.3 billion, through a retail bond sale, marking the largest such offering ever by a Japanese issuer. The seven-year bonds are targeted at individual investors and will carry a provisional annual coupon between 4.3% and 4.9%, with final pricing expected on September 4. The announcement sent SoftBank’s shares down 2.6% to 5,118.0 yen on the Tokyo stock exchange.

The offering is nearly double the size of SoftBank’s previous record bond sale of 600 billion yen completed in April 2025. According to the company’s filing, the subscription window will run from September 7 to September 16, with the bonds set to be issued on September 17 and mature on September 16, 2033. The substantial scale of the raise underscores the significant capital required for SoftBank’s aggressive expansion into artificial intelligence infrastructure.

The proceeds will primarily fund SoftBank’s deepening investments in AI, most notably its commitments to OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT. The company has pledged over $60 billion to OpenAI-related ventures and aims to secure an ownership stake of approximately 11% to 13%. To...