SoftBank raises credit line to $6.5 billion
The increase from $6.05 billion comes as SoftBank works several other financing channels for its AI push, including a bond sale and a margin loan against Arm Holdings shares.
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SoftBank has raised the size of a credit line to $6.5 billion, up from $6.05 billion.
The increase adds to a run of financing moves this month. Earlier in September, SoftBank placed a retail bond in Japan worth about $6.3 billion, with the seven-year tranche carrying a 4.75% coupon, the top of its guided range, according to ad-hoc-news.de. SoftBank Chief Financial Officer Yoshimitsu Goto was in New York meeting investors through September 17, testing demand for a possible US dollar high-yield bond, ad-hoc-news.de reported.
Other SoftBank facilities have also grown recently. Bloomberg reported that on September 18 SoftBank increased a margin loan backed by shares of its Arm Holdings unit by $5 billion, to $25 billion. Ad-hoc-news.de reported on September 15 that a separate, OpenAI-linked credit line had grown to $11.87 billion. Both are distinct from the $6.5 billion line raised in this move.
The increase points to SoftBank's deepening capital needs for AI infrastructure. It comes after recent weakness in SoftBank's stock and while the company is already tapping bond markets for record funding. Management's willingness to keep expanding its credit lines signals confidence in its AI strategy even as investors have shown skepticism, but it also raises the stakes if the cost of building out AI capacity keeps rising faster than the company has planned for.