Corp. Chief Executive Officer Masayoshi Son speaks during a joint announcement with Toyota Motor Corp. to make new venture to develop mobility services in Tokyo, Japan, 04 October 2018.
Alessandro Di Ciommo | NurPhoto | Getty Images
LONDON – Shares of SoftBank climbed by as much as 7% on Wednesday after Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that the Japanese tech fund is considering going private.
The company’s share price rose from 7,070 Japanese yen ($67.91) at the start of trading, to 7,543 yen at 1:10 p.m. local time on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, according to Reuters data. It closed up by around 5.6% for the session.
According to the Bloomberg report, SoftBank is debating a new strategy to go private. The strategy involves gradually buying back outstanding shares until founder and Chief Executive Masayoshi Son has a big enough stake to squeeze out the remaining investors.
SoftBank did not immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment. The SoftBank share surge occurred in the hours immediately after Bloomberg’s report.
SoftBank’s market value stood at 15.65 trillion yen, or around $150 billion.
