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SoftBank seeks $550 million through two new SPAC investments


Softbank shares soarded on buyback
The claim against SoftBank was made in a lawsuit filed by IRL on Wednesday.

(ATF) Two blank-cheque firms backed by SoftBank Group hope to raise a total of about $550 million in their initial public offerings (IPOs), regulatory filings show.

SVF Investment Corporation 2, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), said it would sell 20 million shares and warrants at $10 each in its IPO, according to a US Securities and Exchange Commission filing

SVF Investment Corporation 3 said it would sell 35 million shares at the same price, according to its filing

The two SPACs launched on February 5 would list on the Nasdaq.

SoftBank has tried to ride the mania for SPACs, with SVF Investment Corporation raising $604 million earlier this year.

STRUCTURE OF CHOICE

Another SPAC headed by the company’s chief operating officer Marcelo Claure is aiming to raise $200 million. Office-sharing startup WeWork is in talks to go public via the SPAC route.

A SPAC, a shell company that raises money in an IPO before later merging with a privately held company to take the latter public, has become many investors’ structure of choice over the past year.

SPACs raised $24.26 billion in January, 20 times more than the same period in 2020, Refinitiv data published by Reuters showed. 

At least 182 SPACs filed for an IPO in 2020, raising a total of $65.7 billion, a figure that represents more than 90% of total IPOs filed in the US.

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George Russell

George Russell is a freelance writer and editor based in Hong Kong who has lived in Asia since 1996. His work has been published in the Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, New York Post, Variety, Forbes and the South China Morning Post.