Partners in finance: SoftBank and SoFi said a joint statement that the Series E funding round will accelerate SoFi's growth as a financial services partner for consumers disenchanted with traditional banking.
LONDON: SoftBank Group Corp. is considering seeking a valuation of about $90 billion for its domestic wireless business in a planned initial public offering, people familiar with the matter said. The shares rose the most in almost a month.
SoftBank is speaking to advisers about selling a third - or about $30 billion - of the business in the IPO, the people said, asking not to be identified as the talks aren’t public. Discussions are preliminary and the final valuation will depend on investors’ feedback, they said. SoftBank rose as much as 6 percent in Tokyo, the biggest intraday increase since July.
A representative for SoftBank declined to comment.
A $30 billion-IPO would make SoftBank Mobile the largest listing ever. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. made its market debut in 2014 with a $25 billion offering, the biggest so far. SoftBank is seeking a higher price-to-earnings premium for its wireless business than its closest publicly traded peers, NTT Docomo Inc. and KDDI Corp., the people said. Shareholders believe the cash-rich company’s guaranteed dividend yield as well as its technology partnerships and the benefits of being linked to the parent firm, may help achieve that higher valuation, they said.
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