Latest news with #VisionFund2
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Apollo Boosts SoftBank Loan to a Record-Breaking $5.4 Billion
(Bloomberg) -- Apollo Global Management Inc. is increasing a landmark loan it made to SoftBank Group to $5.4 billion, a new record for a booming type of debt that's becoming a must have for private capital funds and their backers. All Hail the Humble Speed Hump Three Deaths Reported as NYC Legionnaires' Outbreak Spreads Mayor Asked to Explain $1.4 Billion of Wasted Johannesburg Funds Major Istanbul Projects Are Stalling as City Leaders Sit in Jail What England's New National Cycling Network Needs to Get Rolling The New York-based alternative-asset manager is lifting the size of a so-called net-asset value loan to SoftBank's Vision Fund 2 by $900 million, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The loan represents a low-teens percentage of the value of the portfolio backing it, which includes more than 150 assets, one of the people said. It first wrote the loan in late 2021 but refinanced it earlier this year, the same people added, declining to be named discussing private information. Spokespeople for Apollo and SoftBank declined to comment on the deal. The loan spotlights Apollo's increasingly central role in NAV finance, where lenders write loans not against specific businesses but against funds that control multiple companies. Private capital firms have flocked to NAV loans as a way of borrowing money more cheaply than if they pile debt onto individual companies. Some buyout funds have used it to return money to their backers, especially after a prolonged M&A drought made exits difficult. People familiar with the Vision Fund 2 deal said proceeds would go to its investors, too, though in its case that means SoftBank's billionaire boss Masayoshi Son and SoftBank itself. Vision Fund 2 is a venture-capital vehicle with stakes in dozens of tech startups, including at least $2.2 billion in artificial-intelligence company OpenAI, according to an April news release. Apollo's rapid expansion in NAV lending is driven in large part by its need to deploy the piles of cash being thrown off by its insurance company, Athene. As more people retire and buy life insurance products, such as annuities, providers will search for ways to put that cash to work. NAV loans are emerging as a popular vehicle to do so because of their investment-grade ratings and the extra yield they offer above plain-vanilla products such as corporate bonds and agency mortgage-backed securities. The size of the NAV loan market is reckoned to be about $150 billion and is on track to double by the end of next year, advisory firm Fund Finance Partners estimated last year. The SoftBank deal is rated investment grade and is placed in Apollo's insurance funds, a person familiar said. Because insurers typically purchase assets with blue-chip ratings, these deals hinge on matching that. The Pizza Oven Startup With a Plan to Own Every Piece of the Pie Russia's Secret War and the Plot to Kill a German CEO AI Flight Pricing Can Push Travelers to the Limit of Their Ability to Pay Digital Nomads Are Transforming Medellín's Housing A High-Rise Push Is Helping Mumbai Squeeze in Pools, Gyms and Greenery ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
Bloomberg
2 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Apollo Boosts SoftBank Loan to a Record-Breaking $5.4 Billion
Apollo Global Management Inc. is increasing a landmark loan it made to SoftBank Group to $5.4 billion, a new record for a booming type of debt that's becoming a must have for private capital funds and their backers. The New York-based alternative-asset manager is lifting the size of a so-called net-asset value loan to SoftBank's Vision Fund 2 by $900 million, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The loan represents a low-teens percentage of the value of the portfolio backing it, which includes more than 150 assets, one of the people said.
Time of India
14-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
1mg's offline push; cyberattacks on the rise
1mg's offline push; cyberattacks on the rise Also in the letter: 1mg readies brick-and-mortar push ahead of external funding Driving the news: 1mg is expanding its offline presence from 110 stores presently to 3,000 in five years. Tata Digital, which owns 67% of 1mg, last backed it in a $40 million rights issue in 2022. FY25 revenue is estimated at Rs 2,500-2,600 crore, up 30-35%; cash burn stands at Rs 180-200 crore. Tell me more: Revenue has tripled since FY21 (Rs 309 crore) to Rs 1,968 crore in FY24; net loss fell 75% to Rs 313 crore. 70% of revenue now comes from e-pharmacy, e-diagnostics, and consultation. Offline stores and disease-focused 'full-stack' care models (starting with obesity and cancer) are now in play. 1mg is also teaming up with BigBasket for last-mile delivery amid rising competition from Apollo, PharmEasy, and quick commerce players. Quote, unquote: Also Read: Cybercriminals look to capitalise on India-Pakistan tensions No pros: The MO: Yes, but: Dream11 parent to invest $50 million in Times Internet's Cricbuzz and Willow TV Deal details: Dream Sports will acquire a strategic minority stake in Cricbuzz and Willow TV, which collectively have 185 million monthly users across more than 150 countries. The investment will create new opportunities for fan experiences, given that the companies intend to collaborate and provide Cricbuzz's audience with more real-time analysis and statistics, engagement and commerce integrations, and AI-driven predictions. Quote, unquote: Beyond Cricket: Dream Sports, which also operates Dream11, FanCode, and DreamSetGo, has been expanding its presence beyond India. Earlier this month, it joined the ownership group of Salford City FC, part of a consortium led by football icons David Beckham and Gary Neville. In March, Dream Sports completed a reverse merger, shifting its domicile from the US to India. Other Top Stories By Our Reporters SoftBank posts first annual profit in four years, but Ola and Swiggy weigh on Vision Fund 2 in Q4: Microsoft to lay off thousands to streamline management: Report | Flipkart's SVP Ankit Jain likely to join Swiggy Instamart as COO: PayU gets final nod from RBI to process online business payments: Global Picks We Are Reading Happy Wednesday! Tata Digital's epharmacy, 1mg, is looking to expand its offline presence amid talks of fresh funding. This and more in today's ETtech Morning Dispatch.■ Dream Sports invests in Cricbuzz, Willow TV■ Ola, Swiggy weigh on SoftBank■ Flipkart's leadership churnPrashant Tandon, CEO, 1mgOnline pharmacy 1mg is looking to expand its offline presence amid talks of an external funding round, people in the know told ET. To this end, 1mg is seeking to raise $300 million in external funding.'Several new initiatives are underway, and offline expansion will be a key part of our growth strategy going forward,' said 1mg founder and chief executive officer Prashant Tandon. He added, 'We aspire to become a truly omnichannel, integrated healthcare company and are well on our way to achieving that vision.'A spike in cyberattacks has followed the India-Pakistan conflict, with over 100 incidents reported in just a week. Foreign 'digital tourists' and hacktivist groups from Morocco, Bangladesh, Iraq and Palestine have targeted the Indian government and private attackers are 'script kiddies' or amateurs using pre-built tools for distributed denial of service (DDoS), phishing, and website defacement. Groups like SYLHET-GANG-SG and Team Azrael claimed major data breaches, but experts debunked them as recycled or this conflict, the use of fake AI-generated letters (which strikingly look similar to official letterheads) and videos has become more prominent. These are more often than not spread via WhatsApp and Telegram to manipulate sentiment and steal is one real threat, coming from across the border: APT36 (aka Transparent Tribe), a Pakistan-linked espionage group, has launched malware 'payload' attacks on defence systems. Last week, ET reported about three such company Dream Sports has acquired a strategic minority stake in cricket media platform Cricbuzz and North America's leading cricket broadcaster, Willow Sports has invested $50 million in Cricbuzz and Willow TV, both owned by Times Internet -- the digital media arm of The Times of India Group, which publishes The Economic Times.'Cricbuzz and Willow sit at the heart of how hundreds of millions of fans follow cricket every day. We're excited to work with Dream Sports to reimagine and develop new ways to collaboratively create new experiences for cricket fans across the planet,' said Satyan Gajwani, Vice Chairman, Times Sports CEO Harsh Jain added, 'With this investment, cricket fans can expect much more fan engagement, interactive streams, and integrated commerce experiences that will bring them closer to the action and to each other.'Masayoshi Son, CEO, SoftBankJapanese tech conglomerate SoftBank Group booked an investment loss of $708 million for its Vision Fund 2 in the January–March quarter, citing the poor performance of Indian listed stocks as a key factor.A company spokesperson told CNBC that the fresh layoffs, meant "to reduce layers of management" , will affect 3% of its workforce. Microsoft had a headcount of 228,000 last June, which puts the number of affected employees in the neighbourhood at 7, Jain, senior vice president (SVP) at ecommerce platform Flipkart, is likely to join quick commerce firm Swiggy Instamart as chief operating officer (COO), replacing its current SVP and COO, Sairam Krishnamurthy, according to people in the RBI granted the licence on May 13 . This comes more than a year after the Prosus-backed firm received the banking regulator's in-principle approval to operate this business. It has started onboarding new merchants since then.■ An $8.4 billion Chinese hub for crypto crime is incorporated in Colorado ( Wired ■ Investors back start-ups aiding copyright deals to AI groups ( FT ■ Google's bringing Gemini to your car with Android Auto ( TechCrunch
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Business Standard
13-05-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
Softbank reports 1st profit in 4-yrs; India bets Ola, Swiggy weigh on SVF2
Japan's SoftBank Group has reported its first annual profit in four years, as it pivoted towards new technology bets, including artificial intelligence (AI). The company reported a net income of ¥1.15 trillion for the year ended 31 March 2025, compared to a loss of ¥227.6 billion in the previous year. For the fourth quarter, the company posted a net income of ¥546 billion, rebounding from a loss in the previous quarter. Despite the overall positive performance, some of SoftBank's India investments — housed under its Vision Fund 2 (SVF2) — weighed on results. SVF2 reported an investment loss of ¥561.7 billion (approximately $3.6 billion). The company stated that the fair value of investments held at the end of the fourth quarter had declined by 2.7 per cent from the previous quarter. In its results presentation, SoftBank said: 'Down 21.7% quarter-on-quarter for public portfolio companies, mainly due to share price declines in Swiggy and Ola Electric Mobility.' Speaking during an analyst call, SoftBank Director Yoshimitsu Goto said: '… hopefully we will be able to see a good recovery from there.' Shares of both Ola and Swiggy declined nearly 40 per cent during the January–March period.
Time of India
13-05-2025
- Automotive
- Time of India
SoftBank posts first annual profit in four years, but Ola and Swiggy weigh on Vision Fund 2 in Q4
SoftBank Group reported a $708 million investment loss for its Vision Fund 2 in the January-March quarter, primarily due to the poor performance of Indian listed stocks like Swiggy and Ola Electric. Despite these losses, gains from Vision Fund 1 helped SoftBank achieve a $3.5 billion profit in the fourth quarter, marking its first annual profit in four years. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Japanese tech conglomerate SoftBank Group booked an investment loss of $708 million for its Vision Fund 2 in the January–March quarter, citing the poor performance of Indian listed stocks as a key factor. Food and grocery delivery company Swiggy and two-wheeler manufacturer Ola Electric are the two Indian listed companies in SoftBank Vision Fund (SVF) 2's portfolio.'...some slowdown and drop in share price in portfolio in India was one of the reasons for that (loss on investments in SVF-2). Hopefully, we will be able to see some good recovery from there,' SoftBank director Yoshimitsu Goto said during the company's earnings presentation on said that on a sequential basis, the fair value of investments held by SVF-2 in public companies was down 22% 'mainly due to share price declines in Swiggy and Ola Electric Mobility'.According to data from the National Stock Exchange, the share prices of Swiggy and Ola Electric declined by around 40% in the January-March Swiggy's stock, which listed on the exchanges last November, began sliding at the beginning of the year after quick commerce companies stepped up their cash burn amid rising competition. Swiggy, too, increased its cash burn on account of investments in quick commerce . For the March quarter, it reported a Rs 1,081 crore consolidated net loss During the period, Ola Electric also suffered market share losses in the electric two-wheeler segment to legacy rivals Bajaj Auto and TVS Motor as the company faced issues with its after-sales losses from SVF-2's Indian listed portfolio companies, gains from SVF-1 helped SoftBank post a $3.5 billion profit in the fourth quarter, leading to its first annual profit in four said that the fair value of SVF-1's investments rose 4.1% at the end of the fourth quarter compared to the previous quarter. The value of public portfolio companies increased 0.8%, supported by gains in Chinese ride-hailing firm DiDi and European used-car sales platform Auto1 shares, though partially offset by declines in omnichannel children's products retailer FirstCry and other portfolio companies saw a 6.6% rise, largely due to an increase in the valuation of TikTok-owner ByteDance, attributed to 'higher share prices of market comparable companies and its stronger business performance'.In the earnings presentation, Goto underscored that despite uncertainties arising from US President Donald Trump's trade policies, SoftBank plans to continue its investment activity.'In a highly uncertain environment, we would continue to conduct financial activities with prudence and boldness to build a solid foundation for net asset value,' Goto until last year, the market for initial public offerings (IPOs) in India took a hit as a result of the US imposition of retaliatory tariffs. This has led to several new-age and tech companies taking a relook at their plans to go fiscal year 2025, SoftBank said it sold positions worth $5.35 billion from SVF-1 and SVF-2, including full exits from 24 portfolio companies such as US food delivery platform DoorDash and Hong Kong-based AI company SenseTime, and partial exits from several SoftBank did not sell any stake in Swiggy during its November IPO, it sold a stake worth around $25 million in Ola Electric's August issue. The Japanese investor sold a $110 million stake in Pune-based FirstCry, an SVF-1 portfolio company, during its IPO in August 2024.
