SoftBank Raises Another ¥260 Billion in Subordinated Bonds for AI Investment

Odaily Planet Daily News SoftBank Group Corp. plans to issue another ¥260 billion ($1.6 billion) in subordinated bonds to individual investors, just about two months after its last retail bond offering. According to documents disclosed on Monday, the bonds have a 35-year maturity and include an issuer call option after five years. The bonds are set to be priced on June 5, with an initial five-year coupon guidance range of 4.8% to 5.6%. Against the backdrop of growing capital needs for artificial intelligence-related investments, SoftBank is quickly returning to the retail bond market. Earlier, the company scaled back a $10 billion margin loan facility backed by its stake in OpenAI, highlighting increasing pressure on its financing conditions. SoftBank's investments in OpenAI have exceeded $60 billion, facing massive funding demands related to AI infrastructure spending and other investments. Measured by credit default swaps (CDS), SoftBank's credit risk remains among the highest in Japan, widening by approximately 70 basis points since 2026. (Jin Shi)