SoftBank, Saudis Would Get a Liquidity Boost From Vision Fund IPO - Bloomberg

SoftBank, Saudis Would Get a Liquidity Boost From Vision Fund IPO - Bloomberg:

SoftBank Group Corp.’s flagship, $98.6 billion Vision Fund is almost tapped out. Its holdings of unicorn startups aren’t likely to deliver cash to investors anytime soon.

Yet SoftBank needs liquidity, and there’s talk that the Saudi government’s Public Investment Fund may be looking to monetize its stake through a margin loan. (The PIF denied a Bloomberg News report that it has such plans). 

An answer to both problems would be to list shares in the Vision Fund itself, a topic that has been given scant regard as people focus on the underlying investments.

Hear me out, though. 


The fund’s two biggest holdings right now are Chinese content-platform Bytedance Inc. and ride-hailing leader Didi Chuxing. There’s slim chance that either will have an initial public offering this year, and probably not in the U.S., where the mood toward Chinese companies has soured after the Luckin Coffee Inc. scandal. Too bad for them: All the dollars printed by Washington to tackle the Covid-19 economic crisis might mean there’s plenty of money sitting around waiting for a big new share sale.