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SoftBank to invest additional $2 billion in WeWork: sources

[January 08, 2019] By Angela Moon and Greg Roumeliotis

(Reuters) - SoftBank Group Corp <9984.T> will inject another $2 billion in WeWork Cos Inc this year, bringing the Japanese conglomerate's total investment in the office space provider to more than $10 billion, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The new investment will value WeWork at $47 billion, one of the sources said. SoftBank will separately convert previously purchased warrants into equity at a valuation of $20 billion, the source added.

The new investment extending its minority stake, which could be announced as early as Tuesday, will not include any money from SoftBank's Vision Fund, according to the second source.

Saudi Arabia is the biggest investor in The Vision Fund, which was a major backer of SoftBank's early investments in WeWork and holds stakes in other technology companies, including ride-hailing service Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL].

The new round will bring total SoftBank investments in money-losing WeWork to about $10.4 billion and comes following declines in global stock markets which have hurt the value of technology shares.

With tech firms buffeted by fears of a slowdown in global growth and Sino-U.S. trade friction, shares in one portfolio company, publicly listed chipmaker Nvdia Corp <NVDA.O>, have fallen 50 percent from their October high.

The WeWork investment comes after SoftBank raised $23.5 billion last month listing its domestic telco, SoftBank Corp <9434.T>, in Japan's biggest-ever IPO. Shares fell 15 percent in the unit's trading debut last month, erasing $9 billion in value and are currently trading 5 percent below the IPO price.

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SoftBank Corp. placard is prepared during a ceremony to mark the company's debut on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in Tokyo, Japan December 19, 2018. REUTERS/Issei Kato

The SoftBank group is publicly bullish on the merit of the WeWork investment, with SoftBank Corp CEO Ken Miyauchi saying last month that Japan, where SoftBank Corp and WeWork have a joint venture, is the startup's fastest-growing market.

WeWork has been treated with scepticism by some Silicon Valley investors who see it as an over-valued real estate play vulnerable to a property market downturn.

In August, WeWork secured $1 billion from SoftBank in the form of a convertible note followed by $3 billion in November in the form of equity warrants.

The Financial Times reported earlier on Monday that SoftBank was in talks to inject an additional $2 billion into WeWork.

(Reporting by Angela Moon and Greg Roumeliotis in New York; Additional reporting by Sonam Rai in Bengelaru and Sam Nussey in Tokyo; Editing by Jim Finkle, Dan Grebler and Christopher Cushing)

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