SoftBank seen trimming Alibaba stake to fill shortfall
The Hindu
SoftBank sold 20 million Alibaba shares in the last quarter.
SoftBank Group Corp is likely to trim its stake in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, an analyst said on Tuesday, as the Japanese tech conglomerate invests in unlisted startups through its second Vision Fund and repurchases its shares.
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SoftBank sold 20 million Alibaba shares in the last quarter and "will need to sell more in 2022," Jefferies analyst Atul Goyal wrote in a note.
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The group will need $40 billion-45 billion of cash this year, Goyal estimates, if it maintains the current pace of investing in startups and share repurchases as part of the 1 trillion yen ($8.7 billion) programme announced in November.
SoftBank is prioritising Vision Fund 2, which has taken stakes in more than 200 companies including recent investments in AI software firm 6sense, digital financing platform Funding Societies and cryptocurrency business Polygon.
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