SoftBank’s Vision Fund to set up new blank-check firm

SoftBank director and Vision Fund head Rajeev Misra mentioned the plan during an interview at the Milken Institute’s virtual conference, but he didn’t discuss further.

The Japanese investment giant is expected to get outside funds and may contribute out of its own pocket to set up the blank-check company, the report said, citing a person familiar with the matter. A target size for the special purpose acquisition company is yet to be determined, the source added.

During the interview, Misra also addressed reports saying that SoftBank has been using options to bet on tech stocks, fueling a recent surge in trading.

“We’re still sitting on a lot of cash. It’s a liquidity-management strategy, it’s a diversification strategy,” he said. “Nobody buying US$10 billion of Nasdaq over a few weeks is going to move the Nasdaq. We’re not even a dolphin; forget being a whale.”

Earlier this year, SoftBank announced plans to repurchase up to 500 billion yen (US$4.7 billion) worth of its own stock, coming on top of a US$41 billion buyback program it announced months earlier. The company also sold assets this year, including those in Alibaba, T-Mobile, and its domestic wireless business in Japan.