Softbank said to pick banks to lead $27b mobile IPO

Japan’s Softbank has reportedly selected the banks that will serve as lead underwriters for the IPO of its domestic mobile business. The operator has picked banks including Nomura Holdings, Mizuho Financial, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank to underwite the offer for around 3 trillion yen ($26.82 billion) worth of shares, citing unnamed sources. This would make the IPO the largest ever, beating Alibaba Group’s $25 billion IPO from 2014.

According to the sources, Softbank currently plans to start marketing the IPO next month and could list shares on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by mid-December, but this timing is subject to change.

Softbank’s founder Masayoshi Son is seeking to squeeze value from its telecoms assets to raise funds for his Vision Fund, which aims to raise $100 billion from global investors every two to three years to invest in promising startups and emerging technologies.

The operator is expected to market most of the shares on offer to Japanese investors.