SoftBank Taps Retail Investors for „260 Billion While SB Energy Files for US IPO
26.05.2026 - 17:33:09 | boerse-global.de
Masayoshi Son is doubling down on his high-stakes AI bet, and he wants mom-and-pop investors to come along for the ride. The SoftBank Group has launched a „260 billion ($1.6 billion) hybrid bond aimed squarely at retail buyers, the second such offering in just over a month, as the Japanese conglomerate funnels cash into artificial intelligence infrastructure and refinances maturing dollar debt.
The 35-year subordinated notes carry an expected coupon of 4.8% to 5.6%, with final pricing due in early June. Investors get a first call option after five years. The move follows an earlier „418 billion bond sale in April, proceeds of which are being used to refinance dollar-denominated notes maturing in mid-2027 and to fund ongoing AI investments.
Sonâs financing push comes as SoftBankâs portfolio companies move to unlock value through public markets. SB Energy Corp., the renewable energy subsidiary that has pivoted from solar farms to AI data centers, has filed confidentially for a US initial public offering. The company now operates a massive data center campus in Texas built specifically for OpenAI and has secured more than $18 billion in project financing. SoftBankâs appetite for capital remains voracious â it used a bridge loan in April to increase its OpenAI stake.
Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying SoftBank?
The groupâs existing AI holdings are already generating eye-popping paper gains. SoftBank owns 90% of chip designer Arm Holdings, and its 13% interest in OpenAI is valued at roughly $850 billion in private rounds. The company carries the stake on its books at $80 billion, yielding an unrealized profit of $45 billion. That optimism has lifted SoftBankâs own shares to a record „8,000, up 13% in recent trading, with a blistering 40% gain over just four sessions.
Not everyone is buying the story. Rating agency S&P Global maintains a negative outlook on SoftBank, citing the groupâs heavy debt load and the capital-intensive nature of its infrastructure buildout. Analysts at SMBC Nikko have nonetheless raised their price target to „8,500, banking on the successful execution of massive data center projects such as a gigawatt-scale facility in Hokkaido, slated to power a new âAI Data Center GPU Cloudâ service launching in October 2026.
The final pricing of the retail bond in June will serve as a litmus test for retail investor confidence in Sonâs grand vision. Around the same time, SoftBank is expected to release more details on SB Energyâs IPO, which could become one of the yearâs largest US listings. For SoftBank, the twin tracks of debt and equity â one tapping yield-hungry Japanese households, the other courting American growth investors â are essential to funding a transformation that may hinge as much on raising cash as on making the right AI bets.
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