SoftBank launches over $11 billion bond sale to fund OpenAI investment

요약

SoftBank $11 Bond to OpenAI investment: Bloomberg reported that the transaction would rank among the largest junk bond sales by a single company, excluding distressed debt exchanges

본문

Home / World News / SoftBank launches over $11 billion bond sale to fund OpenAI investmentSoftBank launches over $11 billion bond sale to fund OpenAI investment

SoftBank OpenAI investment: Bloomberg reported that the transaction would rank among the largest junk bond sales by a single company, excluding distressed debt exchanges

SoftBank bond issue, OpenAI funding, SoftBank OpenAI deal, AI financing, SoftBank debt, junk bonds

SoftBank has launched $10 billion in dollar notes and €1 billion in euro notes to fund its OpenAI investment. (Representative image from file)

Akshita Singh New Delhi 5 min read Last Updated : Sep 21 2026 | 12:33 PM IST

Listen to This Article

SoftBank Group on Monday launched $10 billion of dollar-denominated senior unsecured notes and €1 billion of euro-denominated notes to fund its investment in OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, Reuters reported, citing a term sheet. According to the report, the proceeds will fund SoftBank's $10 billion payment for the third tranche of its follow-on investment in OpenAI, which is expected to close on October 1. The remaining proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes, according to the term sheet. Earlier in the day, Bloomberg reported that the Japanese conglomerate was seeking more than $11 billion through a junk bond sale to fund its growing investment in OpenAI. The dollar-denominated notes are split into 3.5-year, 5.5-year and 7.5-year maturities, while the euro-denominated notes have 4-year and 6-year maturities. The issuance is expected to price on September 24 and settle on September 29, according to the term sheet seen by Reuters. The new bonds will also cancel a $10 billion bridge loan facility that SoftBank had earlier secured to fund its OpenAI investment, the term sheet said.

Also Read

Weekly policy watch: Core sector output, PMI and forex reserves in focus

Delhi could become world's 14th-largest city economy by 2050: Report

India's solar boom faces a new test as rising costs squeeze returns

Chiranjeev Singh Saluja, Managing Director, Premier Energies

Premier Energies commissions largest solar cell plant, capacity at 10.6 GW

Biocon's Pertuzumab gets EMA CHMP recommendation for breast cancer care

The bond sale has a total face value of $10 billion and €1 billion, equivalent to more than $11 billion. Bloomberg reported that a transaction of this size would rank among the largest junk bond sales by a single company, excluding distressed debt exchanges.

SoftBank builds debt for AI investments

SoftBank has committed close to $65 billion to OpenAI and has been raising debt to finance its growing artificial intelligence (AI) investments. In March, the company entered into a $40 billion bridge loan to fund an additional investment in OpenAI. It has since repaid the outstanding $25.9 billion on that facility, Bloomberg reported. SoftBank has also increased other borrowing facilities. It raised a margin loan backed by shares of chip designer Arm Holdings by $5 billion to $25 billion and secured an additional $450 million on an existing credit line, taking that facility to $6.5 billion, according to Bloomberg. Apollo Global Management is also in talks to increase a loan to SoftBank by $3.6 billion to $9 billion to help finance its investment in OpenAI. Separately, SoftBank secured an $11.87 billion loan for the same purpose, people familiar with those deals told Bloomberg. Together, these transactions amount to about $20.92 billion in committed and potential new debt to finance SoftBank's push into AI, including its commitment to OpenAI, according to Bloomberg. SoftBank has sold almost $15 billion of bonds across currencies in 2026, making it the largest junk-rated corporate borrower in bond markets so far this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It also raised a $10 billion loan earlier this year against its OpenAI stake.

Borrowing costs rise

The planned bond sale comes as SoftBank faces higher borrowing costs. The yield on its dollar bond maturing in 2031 rose to 8.2 per cent earlier this month from as low as 6.7 per cent in January. Data cited by Bloomberg showed that spreads have widened alongside higher underlying US Treasury yields. The cost of insuring SoftBank's debt against default has also risen to its highest level in three years, according to Bloomberg.

Arm shares used to raise debt

SoftBank has expanded its borrowing against Arm shares for the third time as it seeks funds for its AI investments. The margin loan began as an $8.5 billion facility in 2023. It was increased to $13.5 billion in 2024 and then to $20 billion last year. This month, SoftBank renegotiated the terms and increased the facility to $25 billion, Bloomberg said in another report. As of May, the facility was secured by 769 million Arm shares, representing a 72 per cent stake in the chip designer, according to company filings. SoftBank owns almost 90 per cent of Arm. The company had drawn $20 billion from the facility as of December. The loan is due to expire in September 2027. Demand from lenders for the expanded facility was about $7 billion, compared with SoftBank's initial plan to raise $3 billion to $5 billion, the people said. Arm's share price has risen 142 per cent this year, according to Bloomberg. SoftBank declined to comment on the increase in the Arm-backed margin loan and the expanded credit line.

OpenAI liquidity remains a focus

SoftBank's exposure to OpenAI has increased the importance of the value and liquidity of its investment in the company. OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman has said the company will not go public this year. Investors have been watching the decision because a public listing would provide greater liquidity for SoftBank's investment, according to Bloomberg. SoftBank said it had been meeting fixed-income investors in New York but had not decided on a bond issuance. “We have investor meetings to provide an update in New York on a non-deal basis. Nothing has been determined on bond issuance,” the company said.

More AI infrastructure spending planned

SoftBank's financing requirements extend beyond its OpenAI investment. The company has also acquired ABB's industrial robotics business for $5.4 billion and data centre-focused private equity firm DigitalBridge Group for about $3 billion in cash. It is replacing some shorter-term borrowing with longer-maturity debt. SoftBank also secured a $10 billion two-year loan last month using its OpenAI stake as collateral, with Apollo among the lenders. The group's AI plans include data centre development in the US and France. Its US unit SB Energy is developing 8.8 gigawatts of data centre capacity across the US, which is estimated to require $174 billion in capital spending. SoftBank has also announced plans for a 5-gigawatt data centre in France.

More From This Section

social media apps, facebook, meta instagram

Buzzing :

Stock Market Live Stocks to Watch Stocks to buy Lenskart Solutions Share NSE IPO GMP Today Gold and Silver Price IIT Bombay Student Suicide Dispute on Chandrasekaran Term Asian Games 2026 LIVE UPDATES

Don't miss the most important news and views of the day. Get them on our Telegram channel

First Published: Sep 21 2026 | 12:26 PM IST

출처: Business Standard

작성자: Akshita Singh

원문 게시일: 2026-09-21T06:56:16Z

이 글은 NewsAPI를 통해 자동으로 수집된 콘텐츠입니다. 원문은 위 링크를 통해 확인하세요.