SoftBank Group Shares rose as much as 6.3% on Wednesday after a report said Elliott Management had rebuilt a big stake within the Japanese technology conglomerate and pushed for share buybacks.
Elliott is pushing for $15 billion in share buybacks, arguing that the buybacks will boost SoftBank's share price and “will be a sign of Son's confidence in his strategy,” the Financial Times reported.
SoftBank shares hit a high of 9,572 yen on Wednesday, up 6.32 percent from Tuesday's close, based on LSEG data. Shares closed 4.6 percent higher at 9,420 yen on Wednesday.
Elliott's stake is price greater than $2 billion and the U.S. fund manager has been involved with SoftBank's management over the past two to a few months, the report said, citing people acquainted with the matter.
SoftBank, founded by Masayoshi Son, has been investing in artificial intelligence since announcing last 12 months that the corporate was moving into “attack mode” after amassing an enormous money hoard of over $35 billion in “defense mode.”
SoftBank is betting big on British chipmaker Arm, which went public last 12 months. Arm reportedly plans to launch AI chips by 2025 to satisfy exploding demand.
The report added that Elliott had targeted SoftBank for the second time, specializing in the massive gap between the full value of the corporate's assets and its market valuation.
Elliott invested $2.5 billion in SoftBank in 2020 and was searching for $20 billion in share buybacks and changes in corporate governance. The Financial Times reported this 12 months.
Elliott Management didn’t immediately reply to CNBC's request for comment. SoftBank Group declined to comment.
read this Full report within the Financial Times.
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