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(Bloomberg) -- SoftBank Group Corp. plans to sell about $14 billion of shares in Chinese e-commerce leader Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. as part of an effort to raise $41 billion to shore up businesses battered by the coronavirus pandemic, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The Japanese conglomerate is considering raising the remainder of the money by selling a stake in SoftBank Corp., its domestic telecommunications arm, as well as part of Sprint Corp. following its merger with T-Mobile US Inc., said one of the people, who requested anonymity discussing private transactions. The Alibaba stake sale could range from $12 billion to as much as $15 billion, the people said.
SoftBank’s shares surged as much as 21% in Tokyo Tuesday in their biggest intraday gain since listing, just days after marking a drop of roughly the same magnitude. The reversal comes as founder Masayoshi Son is finally doing what investors have been urging for years -- using his stake in Alibaba for shareholder returns and to pay down debt.
Son has set in motion his biggest play yet to silence critics, unveiling the unprecedented plan Monday to unload 4.5 trillion yen ($41 billion) of stock and alleviate investor concerns that at one point shaved more than 40% off SoftBank’s value from a February peak. The company, which also operates the $100 billion Vision Fund, is vulnerable to economic shocks given its enormous debt load and ties to unprofitable startups from WeWork to Oyo Hotels. Many of the Vision Fund’s biggest bets lie in what’s known as the sharing economy, which has been particularly hard-hit by a virus that’s causing millions of people to stay indoors and slash travel spending.
“The market sent a strong message and SoftBank has heeded it,” Kirk Boodry, an analyst at Redex Holdings who writes for Smartkarma, said after Monday’s announcement. “What’s changed is that this will entail a meaningful sale of Alibaba stake with much of the proceeds going to shareholders,” he added. “SoftBank has never done that before.”
Read more: Masa Son Unveils a $41 Billion Asset Sale to Silence His Critics
While SoftBank didn’t specify which assets would be sold, its Alibaba stake is worth more than $120 billion and makes up the largest chunk of unrealized value. It’s unclear what timeframe SoftBank’s looking at -- its stock in Sprint and Hong Kong shares of Alibaba may be subject to lockup periods: one year from listing in Alibaba’s case and up to several years for Sprint, though certain conditions may allow earlier transfers and the company could employ special vehicles to get a deal done. Alibaba’s stock was up as much as 2.7%, reversing early losses on Tuesday in Hong Kong.