SoftBank Group announced that it has made a preliminary application to list shares in its unit Softbank Corp (SB) on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. As announced in February, the company plans to separate its Japanese telecom business with the IPO, so the group can focus exclusively on its technology investments.
SoftBank said it's already taken steps to update debt agreements and restructure management boards in preparation for the listing, in order to ensure SB's managerial independence. SB is going ahead with the IPO application as it puts in place a corporate governance system and business organization with greater managerial autonomy and develops its own growth strategy. The new organization "will allow SB to deploy its businesses with agility in a wide range of sectors, while pursuing synergies with the SoftBank Group companies in Japan and overseas," the company noted in a statement.
SB will continue to be a "major consolidated subsidiary" of Softbank Group after the IPO. Softbank said it will "carefully study corporate and capital structures for the Group, taking into account the impact on its creditworthiness and cash flow as a group, with the aim of growing the entire Group and maximizing its corporate value while continuing to ensure sound financial discipline".
Further details of the size, value and timing of the IPO have not yet been disclosed.
