SoftBank launches $11 billion bond sale to fund OpenAI investment

SoftBank launches $11 billion bond sale to fund OpenAI investment

Mon, September 21, 2026 at 4:58 PM GMT+3 1 min read

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SoftBank Group, the Japanese technology conglomerate, has launched a bond sale worth more than $11 billion, among the largest corporate debt deals on record in Asia Pacific, Reuters reported.

Proceeds will fund SoftBank's $10 billion payment for the third tranche of its follow-on investment in OpenAI, which is expected to close on October 1.

The company is selling $10 billion in dollar-denominated notes split into 3.5-year, 5.5-year and 7.5-year maturities, alongside €1 billion ($1.15 billion) in euro-denominated bonds split into four-year and six-year maturities, a term sheet showed Monday.

If completed at the planned size, the offering would be the largest Asia Pacific and Japan non-financial corporate bond deal on record, surpassing 7-Eleven's $10.93 billion sale in January 2021, according to LSEG data cited by Reuters.

It would also rank among the 20 biggest corporate bond deals globally so far this year, according to Dealogic data.The bonds will also cancel a $10 billion bridge loan facility SoftBank had earlier secured to fund the same investment, the term sheet said.

SoftBank, led by billionaire Masayoshi Son, has committed nearly $65 billion to OpenAI.

SoftBank and its banks are gauging investor interest to determine pricing levels, though all discussions remain at an early stage and the final terms could change, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.