TOKYO: Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp. on Monday reported a recovery in its mammoth Vision Fund, with the investment portfolio no longer under water thanks to a broad upswing in tech valuations.
Vision Fund’s $75 billion investment in 83 startups was worth $76.4 billion at the end of September, the company said in a filing.
SoftBank Chief Executive Masayoshi Son has dropped operating profit as a performance metric, citing the group’s shift away from running businesses to tech investing.
The Japanese conglomerate has been selling down core assets such as stakes in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and domestic telco SoftBank Corp. to raise cash to weather the COVID-19 pandemic.
It has used some of its cash to buy back shares as well as invest in US-listed stock and equity derivatives to ride an uplift in tech valuations during the quarter.
The buybacks have pushed its stock price to record highs yet the persistent gap between SoftBank’s market capitalization and the value of its assets has left frustrated executives mulling plans to take the group private, Reuters reported in September.
Conversely, it is planning to list a blank-cheque company to attract outside investment to its Vision Fund, in a sign of returning confidence after a string of soured investments shook the group’s earnings, a source said last month.
SoftBank Vision Fund’s portfolio back above water on tech valuations
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SoftBank Vision Fund’s portfolio back above water on tech valuations
- Vision Fund’s $75 billion investment in 83 startups was worth $76.4 billion at the end of September
Work suspended on Riyadh’s massive Mukaab megaproject: Reuters
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has suspended planned construction of a colossal cube-shaped skyscraper at the center of a downtown development in Riyadh while it reassesses the project's financing and feasibility, four people familiar with the matter said.
The Mukaab was planned as a 400-meter by 400-meter metal cube containing a dome with an AI-powered display, the largest on the planet, that visitors could observe from a more than 300-meter-tall ziggurat — or terraced structure —inside it.
Its future is now unclear, with work beyond soil excavation and pilings suspended, three of the people said. Development of the surrounding real estate is set to continue, five people familiar with the plans said.
The sources include people familiar with the project's development and people privy to internal deliberations at the PIF.
Officials from PIF, the Saudi government and the New Murabba project did not respond to Reuters requests for comment.
Real estate consultancy Knight Frank estimated the New Murabba district would cost about $50 billion — roughly equivalent to Jordan’s GDP — with projects commissioned so far valued at around $100 million.
Initial plans for the New Murabba district called for completion by 2030. It is now slated to be completed by 2040.
The development was intended to house 104,000 residential units and add SR180 billion to the Kingdom’s GDP, creating 334,000 direct and indirect jobs by 2030, the government had estimated previously.
(With Reuters)
