According to a Reuters report, the dollar-denominated bonds will have maturities of 3.5, 5.5, and 7.5 years. The euro-denominated bonds will have maturities of four and six years.
If the planned bond sale is completed, it could set a record for the largest corporate bond sale by a non-financial company in Asia-Pacific and Japan. Previously, in January 2021, Seven-Eleven held this record by selling $10.93 billion in bonds.
A large portion of the bond sale proceeds will be used for SoftBank's next $10 billion investment in OpenAI. The payment for its third tranche is scheduled to be made on October 1. The remaining funds will be used for general corporate purposes.
Earlier, SoftBank had taken a $10 billion short-term loan facility to invest in OpenAI. That loan facility will be repaid using the proceeds from the new bonds.
The bonds are planned to be priced on September 24 and settled on September 29. Fitch Ratings has assigned a BB+ rating to the proposed bonds. The agency said that SoftBank's debt may increase to finance the investment, but it will maintain sufficient liquidity and the ability to raise funds from capital markets.
