SoftBank Markets $10 Billion Bond Sale Ahead of OpenAI Investment
Preliminary yields reach 9.875% on the longest-dated notes as SoftBank prepares its planned $10 billion third investment tranche in OpenAI.
SoftBank Group is marketing $10 billion of senior unsecured dollar notes as it prepares its planned $10 billion third investment tranche in OpenAI.
The notes are divided among three maturities: $1 billion due in 3½ years, $4.5 billion due in 5½ years and $4.5 billion due in 7½ years. Preliminary yield guidance ranges from 8.75% to 8.875% for the shortest notes, 9.375% to 9.5% for the intermediate maturity and 9.75% to 9.875% for the longest-dated bonds.
The guidance represents marketing ranges rather than final coupons or yields. Books were expected to close at noon ET (4 p.m. UTC) Sept. 23, with settlement scheduled for Sept. 29. The deal remained in marketing, with final pricing pending as of Sept. 23.
The new notes’ preliminary yield guidance is above the coupons on SoftBank Group’s April dollar notes. That offering carried coupons of 7.625%, 8.25% and 8.5% on maturities of 3½, 5½ and 10 years, respectively. The proposed new notes are expected to carry speculative-grade ratings and would test demand for corporate debt tied to large-scale artificial-intelligence investment.
SoftBank Group committed in February to invest $30 billion in OpenAI through three $10 billion preferred-share purchases. The third tranche is scheduled for Oct. 1, 2026, Japan time. The securities are set to convert automatically into common shares after an initial public offering or related listing transaction.
SoftBank Group completed the second $10 billion tranche July 1 and said it borrowed $10 billion through a bridge facility to fund that investment. On Sept. 9, the company notified lenders of its decision to repay the entire $25.9 billion outstanding balance on its OpenAI-related bridge borrowing on Sept. 15.
SoftBank Group’s February disclosure said its cumulative OpenAI investment was expected to reach $64.6 billion after the follow-on investment, representing approximately 13% ownership. The company has used asset sales, bond issuance and other financing measures as it replaces bridge borrowing tied to its OpenAI commitment.
SoftBank Group Chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son said, “AI is transforming the world at an unprecedented pace.” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman called SoftBank “the perfect long-term partner.”
