A SoftBank Corp. store in Tokyo.
Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota / Bloomberg
Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota / Bloomberg
SoftBank Group Corp. plans to raise up to $ 630 million through two more blank check companies, capitalizing on record investors’ demand for vehicles.
The Tokyo-based technology conglomerate said it would set up special-purpose acquisition companies less than two months after filing an application for a $ 525 million blank check company. SPACs seek to merge with private companies, allowing them to become publicly traded, avoiding some of the uncertainties of an initial public offering. Vehicles have become a popular way for venture capital startups to list on public markets. More than $ 35 billion has been raised by 117 SPACs that went public on US exchanges this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The new vehicles from SoftBank, SVF Investment Corp. 2 and 3, will target the same diverse technology areas as the first, including mobile communications and artificial intelligence, according to Friday filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Because SPACs are of different sizes, they can work with companies of different maturities.
SVF 2 has entered into a forward purchase contract in which it commits to $ 100 million to $ 150 million of capital for when it combines with another company, shows its prospectus. SVF 3 has entered into a forward purchase contract in which it commits $ 150 million to $ 200 million of capital for when it combines with another company, shows its prospectus.
For the two new vehicles, each SPAC unit will consist of one action and one fifth of a warrant. Citigroup Inc., UBS, Deutsche Bank AG, Cantor Fitzgerald and Mizuho Securities are advising on the listings.
The SVF 2 management committee is chaired by Munish Varna, a managing partner of SoftBank’s Vision Fund, while the SVF 3 management committee is chaired by Ioannis Pipilis. SoftBank’s The first SPAC is led by Vision Fund CEO Rajeev Misra. Navneet Govil, chief financial officer of Vision Fund, serves as CFO for all three SPACs. All are supervised by SoftBank Investment Advisers, which also manages the company’s Vision Fund.
Having three SPACs launches SoftBank in a growing group of companies with several blank check vehicles, including Grupo Gores and investor Chamath Palihapitya’s Hedosophia Social Capital.