SoftBank closing in on T-Mobile stock deal

Tough times: Pedestrians walk past a SoftBank mobile shop in Tokyo. SoftBank Group’s Vision Fund lost 1.9 trillion yen in the most recent fiscal year, triggering the worst loss ever in the Japanese company’s 39-year history. — AFP

TOKYO: SoftBank Group Corp is closing in on a deal to sell about US$20bil of its stock in T-Mobile US Inc, accelerating efforts to raise capital after record losses in its investment business, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Tokyo-based company, which owns about 25% of T-Mobile US, planned to sell a slice of that stake to Deutsche Telekom AG so the German parent could own a majority and consolidate the unit’s financial results, said the people, asking not to be identified because the matter is private. SoftBank would then sell shares in a secondary offering to other investors and retain a smaller stake itself, one of the people said. The deal could be announced this week, the person said.