Japanese business SoftBank Group has been reportedly struggling to raise money for its latest fund. In a bid to raise $100 billion for its next fund, SoftBank obtained tepid reception from some of the world’s leading investors. Some of these investors planned to make limited or no contribution at all, report sources close to the matter.

Reports cite investors included the Public Investment Fund, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. The latest reports suggest that many leading investing firms were indifferent towards giving money to another party as they already have means of direct investment in late-stage startups. Investing firms with lesser proficiency are also concerned about lack of transparency & governance of the fund. 

SoftBank Chief Executive Officer Masayoshi Son said earlier in May, that the second fund will match the company’s first & landmark Vision Fund I at $100 billion. He also added that along with many new investors, contributors from the first fund were showing great interest.

A Softbank spokesperson was reportedly quoted saying that the concerns of large investors being mildly receptive in the second Vision Fund round are inaccurate & misleading. Recently, the company’s shares surged up by 6.22%.

According to industry experts, Vision Fund I of SoftBank was expected to make large bets in companies such as Didi Chuxing, Grab & Uber. It has already made investments in Slack, a messaging platform & The We Company, which formerly started as WeWork, a provider of shared spaces for start-ups.

The recent fund requires a wider pool of big investors. It has been reported that SoftBank was planning a public presentation of Vision Fund I to invest in tech companies like Foxconn, Apple and Qualcomm.

Source credits : https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/03/japan-softbank-reportedly-grapples-with-raising-money-for-latest-fund.html