Softbank denies reports of planned IPO for mobile unit

SoftBank Group has denied reports that it is planning to list its mobile phone unit SoftBank Corp. in Tokyo and overseas this year.

A report in the Nikkei Asian Review claimed the listing would be one of the largest IPOs for a Japanese company, bringing in as much as some 2 trillion yen (£13bn). It said Softbank plans to apply to the Tokyo Stock Exchange as early as the spring with an eye on having SoftBank Corp. trade on the bourses first section starting around autumn, with an overseas listing, possibly in London, planned for the same time. The report went on to say that SoftBank Group intends sell about 30 per cent of the outstanding shares in its subsidiary to investors, keeping a 70 per cent stake for itself.

But in a statement on its website, Softbank denied the report, saying: “With regard to todays Nikkei report on the listing of SoftBank Corp., a subsidiary of SoftBank Group Corp., we are always studying various capital strategy options. The listing of SoftBank Corp. shares is one such option, but no decision has been made to officially proceed with this course.”

Softbank has grown by acquisition in recent years, acquiring US mobile carrier Sprint in 2013 and British chip designer ARM Holdings in 2016. Its mobile division generated an operating profit of more than 400bn yen for the half year from April – September 2017.