(Sept 21): SoftBank Group Corp is seeking the equivalent of more than US$11 billion (RM44.8 billion) in what would be one of the biggest junk bond deals ever, people familiar with the matter said on Monday, as billionaire Masayoshi Son’s conglomerate ramps up its investments in ChatGPT creator OpenAI.
The company is looking to issue US$10 billion of dollar securities across three tenors, and €1 billion (US$1.1 billion or RM4.7 billion) of euro notes across two maturities, according to the people, who asked not to be identified as the discussions are private. The money will be used in part to fund a follow-on investment in OpenAI expected to close next month, the people said. The deal may price on Thursday, they added.
One of the world’s largest investors in AI, SoftBank’s fortunes have become increasingly intertwined with its ability to monetise its holding in OpenAI after committing close to US$65 billion to the tech pioneer. That’s put Son’s firm at the epicenter of debt-fuelled bets on artificial intelligence (AI), at a time when safety concerns about the industry have flared.
SoftBank entered into a US$40 billion bridge loan in March to fund an additional investment in OpenAI, and recently repaid the outstanding balance of US$25.9 billion on that facility. It’s been tapping debt markets in a flurry of deals as it builds out its AI financing capacity.
It closed out last week with nearly US$21 billion in potential fresh borrowings. The group increased a margin loan backed by shares of its chip unit Arm Holdings plc by US$5 billion to US$25 billion, people familiar with the matter said last Friday. And it recently secured an additional US$450 million to an existing credit line, bringing the total to US$6.5 billion.
Apollo Global Management Inc is also in talks to boost the size of a loan to SoftBank by US$3.6 billion to US$9 billion to help it finance its investment in AI giant OpenAI. On top of that, the firm founded and led by billionaire Son secured an US$11.87 billion loan, also to support its OpenAI investment, according to people familiar with those deals.
As part of its funding campaign this year, SoftBank has sold almost US$15 billion of notes across currencies, making it the biggest junk-rated borrower in bond markets so far in 2026, Bloomberg-compiled data showed. There was also a US$10 billion loan earlier this year backed by its OpenAI stake.
The deals come amid a broader increase across markets in borrowing costs, as most major economies grapple with inflation. The yield on SoftBank’s dollar bond maturing in 2031 climbed to 8.2% earlier this month, up from as low as 6.7% in January, as spreads have widened and underlying Treasury yields have risen, Bloomberg-compiled data showed.
Recent calls by heads of some of the world’s biggest AI platforms, including OpenAI, to slow AI advances on safety concerns, have introduced another layer of uncertainty. That contributed recently to an increase in the cost to insure SoftBank’s debt against default to the highest in three years.
OpenAI chief executive officer Sam Altman’s remarks that the company won’t go public this year, a move that would increase the liquidity of SoftBank’s investments, have been closely watched by investors.
If SoftBank sells about US$11 billion in debt, it would be one of the largest junk bond sales ever by a single firm, excluding distressed debt exchanges.
Citigroup Inc is acting as the lead bookrunner and a joint global coordinator, alongside Goldman Sachs Group, JPMorgan Chase & Co and Morgan Stanley for dollar tranches. JPMorgan is the lead bookrunner for the euro-denominated notes and among the joint global coordinators, together with Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank.
SoftBank is rated at BB+ by S&P Global Ratings, the firm’s highest speculative-grade rating. By contrast, Alphabet Inc and Amazon.com Inc, the two biggest sellers of corporate bonds in 2026, have ratings of AA+ and AA respectively, higher than the Japanese sovereign.
Uploaded by Tham Yek Lee