The SoftBank Corp logo is displayed on the glass door of the company’s store in Tokyo, Japan, Wednesday, May 8, 2024.
Toru Hanuchi | Bloomberg | Getty Images
SoftBank Group Shares rose 6.3% on Wednesday on reports Elliott Management Rebuilds Large Stake Japanese technology group and is pushing for share buybacks.
According to the Financial Times, Elliott is lobbying for a $15 billion share buyback, which he believes will boost SoftBank’s share price and “demonstrate Son’s confidence in his strategy.”
London Stock Exchange data showed that SoftBank’s share price hit a high of 9,572 yen on Wednesday, up 6.32% from Tuesday’s closing price. The stock closed up 4.6% at 9,420 yen on Wednesday.
The report quoted people familiar with the matter as saying that Elliott’s stake is worth more than $2 billion and that the American fund manager has been in contact with SoftBank’s senior management in the past two to three months.
SoftBank, founded by Masayoshi Son, has been investing in artificial intelligence since announcing last year that the company would enter “offensive mode” after accumulating a huge cash reserve of more than $35 billion during “defensive mode.”
SoftBank made a big bet on Arm, a British chip design company that went public last year. According to reports, Arm plans to launch artificial intelligence chips by 2025 to meet explosive demand.
The report further said that Elliott targeted SoftBank for the second time, focusing on the huge gap between the total value of the company’s assets and its market valuation.
Elliott invested $2.5 billion in SoftBank in 2020 and sought $20 billion worth of share buybacks and governance changes, British “Financial Times” report that year.
Elliott Management did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment. SoftBank Group declined to comment.
read full report In the Financial Times.
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