BackSoftBank likely to invest about $100 million each in about 5 Indian startups: Report
The Japanese invest is looking to invest and support Indian startups in order to take them to the next stage and also help them become unicorns.
PremiumSoftBank is in talks with about four to five Indian startup companies and is planning to invest about $50-$100 million in each of the companies, sources aware of the development has told Business Standard.
As per the reports, the Japanese investor would invest and support these Indian startups in order to take them to the next stage and also help them in becoming unicorns.
Sources aware of the development told Business Standard that the company is looking to invest in business-to-consumer B2C space, enterprise and media, with valuation between $400-$500 million. As per the report, this infusion is lower than its earlier investments put in Indian companies.
Moreover, as per the report, Softbank is also looking to invest in companies where existing investors want to exit through secondary sale because it has postponed their IPO plans. If these deals come through then it can also look at investing ore than $100 million each.
Earlier, on 24 May, S&P Global Ratings cut SoftBank Group Corp's long-term rating deeper into junk territory, leading the Japanese tech investment conglomerate to question the downgrade. The rating agency had lowered the company's rating to BB from BB-plus, citing SoftBank's exposure to unlisted companies that are susceptible to changes in the external environment. "There is a marked lack of rationality in the explanation," SoftBank Chief Financial Officer Yoshimitsu Goto had told Reuters.
Also Read: SoftBank Says Goodbye to Alibaba, Hello to More AI Investments
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son said that he would "play defence" with prudent financial management given weakness in tech valuations. As per the statement, “It is extremely regrettable that our financial soundness was not properly assessed, and we will continue our dialogue with S&P."
Notably, SoftBank is now fighting back against credit-rating firms for the first time. The company had a long tussle with Moody's Investors Service to which it has not provided information since March 2020
Earlier on 11 May, SoftBank informed the stock exchanges that it offloaded a little over a 2 percent stake in One97 Communications Limited - the parent entity of Paytm, in a series of open market transactions since February 2023, to comply with the capital market regulator SEBI's takeover regulations
(With inputs from Reuters)
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