SoftBank Group Corp. is expected to invest $40 billion into its new technology megafund after securing backing from an unlikely coalition of investors including Apple Inc. AAPL, -0.08% , Goldman Sachs Group Inc. GS, +1.18% and Kazakhstan’s government.
SoftBank’s board is set to meet Thursday to approve the investment, according to people familiar with the matter. It comes as U.S. regulators are poised to approve the merger of Sprint Corp. S, +8.04% and T-Mobile US Inc. TMUS, +3.16% , a deal that will rid SoftBank of billions of dollars in debt and free it up to invest.
SoftBank 9984, +1.01% has been raising cash for the sequel to its $100 billion Vision Fund, which launched two years ago and has spent money at a dizzying pace. The cash came almost entirely from SoftBank itself and government funds of Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi and remains locked up in dozens of private companies, sending SoftBank out looking for investors with fresh appetite.
It contended with investor concerns about its governance, transparency and whether it could put another giant pot of money to work, The Wall Street Journal reported last month. The investment by SoftBank and the news of early investors joining the fund are an effort to build fundraising momentum and ease those concerns. It is unclear how much the outside investors are putting in.
An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.
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