SoftBank to move ride-hailing stakes worth $20 billion to Vision Fund: Financial Times

Reuters 

(Reuters) - Japan's plans to shift more than $20 billion of its investments in top ride-hailing companies including Technologies Inc, Ola, and Chuxing into its Saudi-backed Vision technology fund, reported on Wednesday.

The proposed transfer will provide the fast-growing ride-service firms access to the Vision Fund's resources, hoping to work closely and create synergies in businesses across the world, the FT reported, citing people familiar with the talks.

SoftBank was not immediately available for comment.

SoftBank's stakes in Uber, China's Didi, Brazil's 99, India's Ola and Singapore's could be transferred into the fund within months, the newspaper reported.

The Vision Fund, the world's largest private equity fund, is run by SoftBank and has become a powerful investor within the since its close to $93 billion establishment last year.

Due to the restructuring in investment, the invested capital of the is expected to increase but financial details of the transaction are not clear, FT said.

Through its investment arm centered on the Vision Fund, SoftBank has already funnelled billions into tech firms around the world.

Owing to direct investment in by Saudi Arabia's state-owned sovereign wealth fund, the (PIF), investments have been kept separate to the Vision Fund, FT said.

The PIF, which has assets totalling over $220 billion, paid $3.5 billion for a stake in in mid-2016.

(Reporting by in Bengaluru; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Wed, April 25 2018. 10:59 IST