SoftBank launches $11 billion bonds to fund OpenAI investment

By Kane Wu and Yantoultra ‌Ngui

HONG KONG, ​Sept 21 (Reuters) - ​SoftBank Group Corp has launched the sale of $10 billion and €1 billion ($1.15 billion) denominated senior unsecured notes to fund its investment ‌in OpenAI, a term sheet showed on Monday.

The dollar-denominated notes are ⁠split into 3-1/2-year, 5-1/2-year and 7-1/2-year maturities, while the euro-denominated bonds are split into 4-year ‌and 6-year maturities.

If completed at ‌the planned size, the offering would be the largest Asia Pacific and Japan non-financial corporate bond deal on record, surpassing 7-Eleven Inc's $10.93 billion sale ​in January 2021, LSEG data showed.

It would also rank among the 20 biggest corporate bond deals globally so far this year, Dealogic data ⁠showed.

SoftBank said it had no comment on the term sheet.

Proceeds will be used to 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, and ​for general corporate purposes, the term sheet said.

SoftBank ‌earlier secured a $10 billion bridge loan facility to fund its OpenAI investment, and the bonds will be cancelling that, ⁠according to the term sheet.

The bond issuances are expected to price on September 24 and settle on September 29, the term sheet said.

Fitch Ratings assigned the proposed notes ⁠a BB+ rating.

Fitch said in a note that it expects SoftBank's debt to rise as ​it funds committed investments, but the company should retain adequate liquidity and access to capital markets.

Citigroup is the lead bookrunner for the dollar notes and JPMorgan the lead bookrunner for the ‌euro notes, the term sheet said.

Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley are joint global coordinators for the dollar ‌notes, with JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs in the role for the ⁠euro notes.

($1 = 0.8712 euros)

(Reporting by ‌Kane Wu and Yantoultra Ngui ​in Hong Kong; additional reporting by Makiko Yazamaki and Kentaro Okasaka in Tokyo; Editing by Clarence Fernandez, Thomas Derpinghaus and ‌Alexander Smith)

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