TOKYO: Japan´s SoftBank Group Corp on Wednesday said it has
agreed to buy Fortress Investment Group LLC for about $3.3 billion, looking to
add investment expertise as it prepares to launch the world´s largest private
equity fund.
The all-cash deal is SoftBank´s first major cash injection in an
investment fund and represents another unpredictable gambit for a group that
has to date focused on telecoms and technology. It comes after founder
Masayashi Son made the surprise announcement in October that SoftBank is
teaming up with Saudi Arabia to set up a $100 billion technology fund.
The Fortress deal will likely help SoftBank in its move to
financing investments with private equity cash instead of debt, said Gerhard
Fasol of Eurotechnology Japan, a Tokyo-based consultancy. "Son´s strategy
appears to be to use Fortress´s know-how to move from debt financing to private
equity.
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