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Economic Times
05-08-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
SoftBank builds Nvidia, TSMC stakes under Masayoshi Son's focus on AI gear
Agencies SoftBank Group Corp. is building up stakes in Nvidia Corp. and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the latest reflection of Masayoshi Son's focus on the tools and hardware underpinning artificial intelligence. The Japanese technology investor raised its stake in Nvidia to about $3 billion by the end of March, up from $1 billion in the prior quarter, according to regulatory filings. It bought around $330 million worth of TSMC shares and $170 million in Oracle Corp., they show. That's while SoftBank's signature Vision Fund has monetized almost $2 billion of public and private assets in the first half of 2025, according to a person familiar with the fund's activities. The Vision Fund prioritizes its returns on investment and there is no particular pressure from SoftBank to monetize its assets, said the person, who asked not to be named discussing private information. A representative of SoftBank declined to comment. At the heart of SoftBank's AI ambitions is chip designer Arm Holdings Plc. Son is gradually building a portfolio around the Cambridge, UK-based company with key industry players, seeking to catch up after largely missing a historic rally that's made Nvidia into a $4 trillion behemoth and boosted its contract chipmaker TSMC near a $1 trillion value. 'Nvidia is the picks and shovels for the gold rush of AI,' said Ben Narasin, founder and general partner of Tenacity Venture Capital, referring to a concerted effort by the world's largest technology companies to spend hundreds of billions of dollars to get ahead. SoftBank's purchase of the US company's stock may buy more influence and access to Nvidia's most sought-after chips, he said. 'Maybe he gets to skip the line.'SoftBank, which reports quarterly earnings Thursday, should've benefited from that bet on Nvidia — at least on paper. Nvidia has gained around 90% in market value since hitting a year's low around early April, while TSMC has climbed over 40%.That's helping to make up for missing out on much of Nvidia's post-ChatGPT rally — one of the biggest of all time. SoftBank, which was early to start betting on betting on AI long before OpenAI's seminal chatbot, parted with a 4.9% stake in Nvidia in early 2019 that would be worth more than $200 billion today. Crippling losses at the Vision Fund also hampered SoftBank's ability to be an early investor in generative AI. The company's attempts to buy back some Nvidia shares, alongside those of proxy TSMC, would help Son regain access to some of the most lucrative parts of the semiconductor supply chain. The 67-year-old SoftBank founder now seeks to play a more central role in the spread of AI through sweeping partnerships. These include SoftBank's $500 billion Stargate data center foray with OpenAI, Oracle and Abu Dhabi-backed investment fund MGX. Son is also courting TSMC and others about taking part in a $1 trillion AI manufacturing hub in Arm's intellectual property is used to power the majority of mobile chips and is increasingly used in server chips, SoftBank could carve out a unique position without being a manufacturer itself, according to Richard Kaye, co-head of Japan equity strategy at Comgest Asset Management and a long-time SoftBank investor.'I think he sees himself as the natural provider of AI semiconductor technology,' he said. 'What Son really wants to do is capture the upstream and the downstream of everything.'Investors have cheered Son's audacious plans, while analysts say they expect SoftBank to report a swing back to a net income in the June quarter. SoftBank shares marked a record high last month. SoftBank's planned $6.5 billion deal to acquire US chip firm Ampere Computing LLC and another $30 billion investment in OpenAI are further encouraging investors who see the stock as a way to ride the US startup's however, remains dissatisfied, according to people close to the billionaire. Son sees the big projects in the US as having the potential to help SoftBank leapfrog the current leaders in AI to become a trillion-dollar or bigger company, they stock continues to trade at a roughly estimated 40% discount to SoftBank's total assets — which includes a roughly 90% stake in the $148 billion-valued Arm. SoftBank's market capitalization stands at around $119 billion, a fraction of Nvidia's $4.4 trillion valuation and that of other tech companies most closely associated with AI progress. Son, who in the past has seen Washington hamper or derail merger plans like the union of Arm and Nvidia, seeks to leverage his relationship with Donald Trump and is arranging frequent meetings with White House officials. Those efforts are now critical as AI and semiconductors become geopolitical flash points. SoftBank's plan to buy Ampere is facing a probe by the Federal Trade Commission. Attention at its June quarter earnings will be on what other assets SoftBank might sell down to help it secure the liquidity it needs to double down on hardware investments. The Japanese company has so far raised around $4.8 billion through a sale of some of its T-Mobile share holding in June. Its Chief Financial Officer Yoshimitsu Goto has cited the company's end-March net asset value of ¥25.7 trillion ($175 billion), saying the company has ample capital to cover its funding the business year ended March, the Vision Fund's exits included DoorDash Inc. and View Inc., as well as cloud security company Wiz Inc. and enterprise software startup Peak, even as SoftBank bought up the stakes in Nvidia, TSMC and Oracle. 'We're after AI using an array of startups and group companies,' Son told shareholders in June. 'We want to become the organizer of the No. 1 platformer in the artificial super intelligence era.' Elevate your knowledge and leadership skills at a cost cheaper than your daily tea. Can Coforge's ambition to lead the IT Industry become a reality? BlackRock returns, this time with Ambani. Will it be lucky second time? Amazon is making stealthy moves in healthcare, here's why! The trader who blew the whistle on Jane Street Stock Radar: Globus Spirits breaks out from 9-month consolidation; check target & stop loss for long positions Weekly Top Picks: These stocks scored 10 on 10 on Stock Reports Plus These large-caps have 'strong buy' & 'buy' recos and an upside potential of more than 25% Stock picks of the week: 5 stocks with consistent score improvement and upside potential of up to 36% in 1 year
Mint
05-08-2025
- Business
- Mint
SoftBank Builds Nvidia, TSMC Stakes Under Son's Focus on AI Gear
(Bloomberg) -- SoftBank Group Corp. is building up stakes in Nvidia Corp. and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the latest reflection of Masayoshi Son's focus on the tools and hardware underpinning artificial intelligence. The Japanese technology investor raised its stake in Nvidia to about $3 billion by the end of March, up from $1 billion in the prior quarter, according to regulatory filings. It bought around $330 million worth of TSMC shares and $170 million in Oracle Corp., they show. That's while SoftBank's signature Vision Fund has monetized almost $2 billion of public and private assets in the first half of 2025, according to a person familiar with the fund's activities. The Vision Fund prioritizes its returns on investment and there is no particular pressure from SoftBank to monetize its assets, said the person, who asked not to be named discussing private information. A representative of SoftBank declined to comment. At the heart of SoftBank's AI ambitions is chip designer Arm Holdings Plc. Son is gradually building a portfolio around the Cambridge, UK-based company with key industry players, seeking to catch up after largely missing a historic rally that's made Nvidia into a $4 trillion behemoth and boosted its contract chipmaker TSMC near a $1 trillion value. 'Nvidia is the picks and shovels for the gold rush of AI,' said Ben Narasin, founder and general partner of Tenacity Venture Capital, referring to a concerted effort by the world's largest technology companies to spend hundreds of billions of dollars to get ahead. SoftBank's purchase of the US company's stock may buy more influence and access to Nvidia's most sought-after chips, he said. 'Maybe he gets to skip the line.' SoftBank, which reports quarterly earnings Thursday, should've benefited from that bet on Nvidia — at least on paper. Nvidia has gained around 90% in market value since hitting a year's low around early April, while TSMC has climbed over 40%. That's helping to make up for missing out on much of Nvidia's post-ChatGPT rally — one of the biggest of all time. SoftBank, which was early to start betting on betting on AI long before OpenAI's seminal chatbot, parted with a 4.9% stake in Nvidia in early 2019 that would be worth more than $200 billion today. Crippling losses at the Vision Fund also hampered SoftBank's ability to be an early investor in generative AI. The company's attempts to buy back some Nvidia shares, alongside those of proxy TSMC, would help Son regain access to some of the most lucrative parts of the semiconductor supply chain. The 67-year-old SoftBank founder now seeks to play a more central role in the spread of AI through sweeping partnerships. These include SoftBank's $500 billion Stargate data center foray with OpenAI, Oracle and Abu Dhabi-backed investment fund MGX. Son is also courting TSMC and others about taking part in a $1 trillion AI manufacturing hub in Arizona. As Arm's intellectual property is used to power the majority of mobile chips and is increasingly used in server chips, SoftBank could carve out a unique position without being a manufacturer itself, according to Richard Kaye, co-head of Japan equity strategy at Comgest Asset Management and a long-time SoftBank investor. 'I think he sees himself as the natural provider of AI semiconductor technology,' he said. 'What Son really wants to do is capture the upstream and the downstream of everything.' Investors have cheered Son's audacious plans, while analysts say they expect SoftBank to report a swing back to a net income in the June quarter. SoftBank shares marked a record high last month. SoftBank's planned $6.5 billion deal to acquire US chip firm Ampere Computing LLC and another $30 billion investment in OpenAI are further encouraging investors who see the stock as a way to ride the US startup's momentum. Son, however, remains dissatisfied, according to people close to the billionaire. Son sees the big projects in the US as having the potential to help SoftBank leapfrog the current leaders in AI to become a trillion-dollar or bigger company, they said. The stock continues to trade at a roughly estimated 40% discount to SoftBank's total assets — which includes a roughly 90% stake in the $148 billion-valued Arm. SoftBank's market capitalization stands at around $119 billion, a fraction of Nvidia's $4.4 trillion valuation and that of other tech companies most closely associated with AI progress. Son, who in the past has seen Washington hamper or derail merger plans like the union of Arm and Nvidia, seeks to leverage his relationship with Donald Trump and is arranging frequent meetings with White House officials. Those efforts are now critical as AI and semiconductors become geopolitical flash points. SoftBank's plan to buy Ampere is facing a probe by the Federal Trade Commission. Attention at its June quarter earnings will be on what other assets SoftBank might sell down to help it secure the liquidity it needs to double down on hardware investments. The Japanese company has so far raised around $4.8 billion through a sale of some of its T-Mobile share holding in June. Its Chief Financial Officer Yoshimitsu Goto has cited the company's end-March net asset value of ¥25.7 trillion ($175 billion), saying the company has ample capital to cover its funding needs. In the business year ended March, the Vision Fund's exits included DoorDash Inc. and View Inc., as well as cloud security company Wiz Inc. and enterprise software startup Peak, even as SoftBank bought up the stakes in Nvidia, TSMC and Oracle. 'We're after AI using an array of startups and group companies,' Son told shareholders in June. 'We want to become the organizer of the No. 1 platformer in the artificial super intelligence era.' --With assistance from Edwin Chan. More stories like this are available on
Yahoo
24-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Brighthouse bidders narrow to TPG, Aquarian in hunt to buy US insurer, sources say
By David French NEW YORK (Reuters) -Brighthouse Financial has narrowed down a field of suitors to money manager TPG and Abu Dhabi-backed financial investor Aquarian Holdings, as the U.S. life insurance and annuity provider continues to explore a potential sale, according to people familiar with the matter. The pair have progressed to the final bidding round in recent days, the people said. Final bids are currently scheduled for submission in early July, although this timeline could shift, some of them added. While there was interest from other parties, including a bid from the insurance arm of investment firm Sixth Street, as well as an offer from fellow insurer Jackson Financial to buy part of Brighthouse's operations, the two remaining parties are best positioned to buy the entire company in one piece, they said. Apollo Global Management, which has a substantial insurance business, was expected to be a strong contender in the Brighthouse process but ultimately did not submit a bid by the mid-June deadline for offers, according to two other sources. All of the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the process is confidential, cautioned that a deal was not guaranteed and Brighthouse, which has a market value of roughly $3.4 billion, could ultimately remain an independent company. Brighthouse, Apollo and TPG declined to comment. Sixth Street, Aquarian and Jackson did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Financial Times reported earlier on Tuesday that TPG and Aquarian had emerged as leading bidders. Charlotte, North Carolina-based Brighthouse, which was spun out of MetLife in 2017, has been exploring the possibility of a sale for most of this year. It was reported in January that the company was working with bankers on a possible deal. Even as the number of contenders has narrowed in recent days, it is likely to take weeks, or even months, before a potential agreement is struck with a winner, given the time needed to complete steps including the complex due diligence process and any raising of outside finance to support their offer, the people said. U.S. life insurance and annuity providers in recent years have been attracting takeover interest from private equity firms and other asset managers that can take the underlying assets and deploy them into their various strategies. As well as earning higher returns on the insurance assets, the method helps turbo-charge firms' other products. For TPG, one of the last major alternative asset managers without a substantial insurance arm, acquiring Brighthouse would give it a platform from which to build out a broader insurance business. While Aquarian already owns some insurance assets, and formed subsidiary Aquarian Insurance Holdings in March to combine its insurance operations, buying Brighthouse is also regarded as a platform play, the sources said. Aquarian is a holding company focused on insurance and asset management businesses that is backed by investors including RedBird Capital Partners and Abu Dhabi state fund Mubadala. Brighthouse shares have gained roughly 12% so far in 2025, significantly outperforming the approximately 5% rise in the S&P insurance index. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
24-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Brighthouse bidders narrow to TPG, Aquarian in hunt to buy US insurer, sources say
By David French NEW YORK (Reuters) -Brighthouse Financial has narrowed down a field of suitors to money manager TPG and Abu Dhabi-backed financial investor Aquarian Holdings, as the U.S. life insurance and annuity provider continues to explore a potential sale, according to people familiar with the matter. The pair have progressed to the final bidding round in recent days, the people said. Final bids are currently scheduled for submission in early July, although this timeline could shift, some of them added. While there was interest from other parties, including a bid from the insurance arm of investment firm Sixth Street, as well as an offer from fellow insurer Jackson Financial to buy part of Brighthouse's operations, the two remaining parties are best positioned to buy the entire company in one piece, they said. Apollo Global Management, which has a substantial insurance business, was expected to be a strong contender in the Brighthouse process but ultimately did not submit a bid by the mid-June deadline for offers, according to two other sources. All of the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the process is confidential, cautioned that a deal was not guaranteed and Brighthouse, which has a market value of roughly $3.4 billion, could ultimately remain an independent company. Brighthouse, Apollo and TPG declined to comment. Sixth Street, Aquarian and Jackson did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Financial Times reported earlier on Tuesday that TPG and Aquarian had emerged as leading bidders. Charlotte, North Carolina-based Brighthouse, which was spun out of MetLife in 2017, has been exploring the possibility of a sale for most of this year. It was reported in January that the company was working with bankers on a possible deal. Even as the number of contenders has narrowed in recent days, it is likely to take weeks, or even months, before a potential agreement is struck with a winner, given the time needed to complete steps including the complex due diligence process and any raising of outside finance to support their offer, the people said. U.S. life insurance and annuity providers in recent years have been attracting takeover interest from private equity firms and other asset managers that can take the underlying assets and deploy them into their various strategies. As well as earning higher returns on the insurance assets, the method helps turbo-charge firms' other products. For TPG, one of the last major alternative asset managers without a substantial insurance arm, acquiring Brighthouse would give it a platform from which to build out a broader insurance business. While Aquarian already owns some insurance assets, and formed subsidiary Aquarian Insurance Holdings in March to combine its insurance operations, buying Brighthouse is also regarded as a platform play, the sources said. Aquarian is a holding company focused on insurance and asset management businesses that is backed by investors including RedBird Capital Partners and Abu Dhabi state fund Mubadala. Brighthouse shares have gained roughly 12% so far in 2025, significantly outperforming the approximately 5% rise in the S&P insurance index.
Daily Tribune
16-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Tribune
Man City crave winning feeling at Club World Cup
Bolstered by a £100 million ($135 million) spending spree ahead of the Club World Cup, Manchester City are determined to erase the memory of a disappointing season by returning to winning ways in the United States. For the first time in eight years, City ended the domestic campaign without a major trophy as Pep Guardiola's men surrendered the Premier League crown to Liverpool after an unprecedented four consecutive titles. A Champions League exit before the last 16 for the first time since 2012/13 and a shock FA Cup final defeat against Crystal Palace compounded a miserable season for a club that has grown used to success since an Abu Dhabi-backed takeover 17 years ago. At one time the month-long expanded Club World Cup, sandwiched between two gruelling seasons, was the last thing Guardiola or his players appeared to want. Ballon d'Or winner Rodri hinted back in September that a players' strike was 'close' over fixture congestion. Defender Manuel Akanji more recently said the City squad was 'not exactly overjoyed' at playing in the tournament given the limited rest time. However, City are keen to turn the page from last season and begin afresh with major changes in the squad and coaching staff. Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Cherki, Rayan Ait-Nouri and Marcus Bettinelli were all signed last week to beat the deadline to feature in the Club World Cup from the start. City also spent more than £172 million in January on Omar Marmoush, Abdukodir Khusanov, Vitor Reis and Nico Gonzalez. Adding Claudio Echeverri, who arrived in Manchester in January at the end of a loan spell at River Plate, nine of Guardiola's 27-man squad for the tournament have been at City for less than six months. Former City captain Kyle Walker and club record signing Jack Grealish have been left out of the travelling party in a changing of the guard. 'Whole world will be watching' Meanwhile, Guardiola has also made radical changes to his staff with Pep Lijnders, Jurgen Klopp's former assistant at Liverpool, and ex-City defender Kolo Toure joining the backroom team and three other coaches departing. 'This is a very, very serious competition,' said Guardiola. 'In the summer, the whole world will be watching this. 'A big number of the top teams in the world will be competing in this tournament and I can assure you, we're going to give it our best shot. We're going there to win it.' City begin the tournament as third favourites in the British bookmakers odds behind newly-crowned European champions Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid. They should ease through a group containing Morocco's Wydad Casablanca, Al Ain of Abu Dhabi and Italian giants Juventus. Yet there is an air of mystery around what to expect from City given the fresh faces and their inconsistency over the last season. After a miserable mid-winter run of one win in 13 games in all competitions, Guardiola's side recovered to an extent as they finished third in the Premier League. The additions of Reijnders and Cherki add some much-needed verve to an ageing midfield and compensate for the departure of Kevin De Bruyne to Napoli. Ait-Nouri's arrival ends a long spell without a natural left-back and will add an extra attacking dimension down that side. Most crucially of all, though, Rodri is back from the cruciate knee ligament injury that decimated his and City's season. When the Spanish midfielder went down against Arsenal in late September, City were still undefeated and top of the Premier League. His importance as the key cog in Guardiola's machine was brutally exposed in the months that followed. The 28-year-old made his return in the final week of the Premier League season. With Rodri restored and Guardiola's squad refreshed, City could be a force to be reckoned with again over the next month.
