Contentsquare secures $2.8bn price tag after Softbank-led funding round May 26, 2021 Data analytics platform Contentsquare has secured a valuation of $2.8bn (£1.9bn) following a funding round led by Japanese investment giant Softbank. The digital experience firm, which helps companies understand how people interact on their website or app, nabbed the price tag after raising $500m in a Series E round. The cash injection was led by [...]
WeWork posts £1.45bn loss ahead of stock market debut May 21, 2021 WeWork today posted a £1.45bn first quarter loss as the office-sharing startup prepares for its stock market debut. The company, which is backed by Japanese tech giant SoftBank, said its quarterly revenue almost halved from a year ago to $598m. WeWork had originally attempted to go public in 2019, but the move collapsed over concerns [...]
Softbank ‘mulls $300bn Spac listing’ for Vision Fund May 17, 2021 Softbank is reportedly weighing up a $300bn (£212bn) blank-cheque deal to take its tech-focused Vision Fund public. The Japanese conglomerate is said to be discussing plans to raise capital through a special purpose acquisition company (Spac) deal on the Amsterdam stock exchange later this year. It is planning to seek around €250bn from the listing, [...]
Alphawave shares lift slightly, after 22 per cent plunge in London stock market debut May 14, 2021 Following a turbulent market debut yesterday, Alphawave’s shares rebounded slightly in its second day of trading in the capital. The tech firm’s share price bounced to 366.2p per share this morning, down 1.03 per cent, after prices fell as low as 310.85p yesterday. Over half a billion pounds was wiped from the Canadian computer chip [...]
SoftBank posts highest-ever annual profit for a Japanese company May 12, 2021 Japanese investment giant SoftBank today reported a record annual group net profit of $45.8bn, putting it among the world’s biggest earning firms. SoftBank’s net income beat the $42.5bn made by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway in its last business year and compared to a ¥962bn loss a year earlier. Market enthusiasm for tech stocks drove the [...]
Tecent, Baidu and SoftBank fined in China for monopolistic behaviour in fintech crackdown March 12, 2021 China’s market regulator said today it has fined 12 companies $77,000 each for flouting anti-monopoly rules. Concerning ten deals in particular, companies including Tencent Holdings, Baidu Inc, Softbank and a ByteDance-backed firm, were fined for behaviour that caused market concentration, the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) said. The companies’ actions did not completely exclude [...]
SoftBank reaches settlement with former WeWork chief Neumann February 27, 2021 SoftBank last night reached a settlement with WeWork’s special committee and the company’s co-founder and former chief executive, Adam Neumann, putting to rest a legal battle dating back to 2019. SoftBank, the new owner of the office-sharing firm, did not disclose terms of the settlement. Media reports earlier this week indicated the deal includes a nearly [...]
Softbank-backed blank cheque firm eyes $200m stock market float January 29, 2021 A blank cheque firm backed by a top Softbank executive is looking to raise as much as $200m (£146m) in an initial public offering. LDH Growth Corp I, led by Softbank chief operating officer Marcelo Claure and controlled by an affiliate of the Japanese conglomerate, today said it planned to sell 20m shares units of [...]
Softbank ‘considers moving Vision Fund’ from London to Abu Dhabi November 10, 2020 Japanese tech investment giant Softbank is reportedly considering moving the unit that manages its $100bn (£75.6bn) Vision Fund from London to Abu Dhabi. The move has been under discussion for several weeks, the Financial Times reported, citing people with knowledge of the talks. The relocation of Softbank Investment Advisors, which manages the Vision Fund, is [...]
Softbank rides e-scooter wave with $250m Tier funding deal November 10, 2020 Softbank has jumped onto the booming e-scooter market, leading a $250m (£190m) investment round in Berlin-based Tier. Tier has grown rapidly since its inception in 2018, and now operates 60,000 e-scooters in more than 80 cities across 10 countries. The latest funding takes its valuation to just under $1bn unicorn status, the Financial Times reported, [...]