Snakes and ladders: SoftBank Vision Fund's climbing,
sliding valuations
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[October 18, 2019] By
Anirban Sen and Sam Nussey
(Reuters) - The $100 billion Vision Fund of
Japan's SoftBank Group Corp <9984.T> has in just over two years burned
through much of its capital investing in money-losing, late-stage tech
startups in areas as varied as autonomous driving, healthcare and
finance.
The IPO flop of office-sharing firm WeWork, one of its biggest bets, and
plunging valuations of other major investments such as ride-hailing
pioneer Uber have cast a cloud over the efforts of SoftBank founder and
Chief Executive Masayoshi Son to raise a second giant fund.
With WeWork trying to raise new capital, SoftBank has proposed a further
$5 billion investment in the money-losing startup, sources told Reuters
this week.
Following are highlights of the investments and performance of SoftBank
Vision Fund, whose first major close was in 2017.
MAJOR INVESTMENTS
* $11.8 billion in Chinese ride-hailing firm Didi Chuxing
* $10.7 billion in U.S.-based office sharing startup WeWork parent The
We Company (total includes SoftBank Group investment)
* $7.7 billion in U.S. ride-hailing firm Uber Technologies Inc <UBER.N>
* $3 billion in Southeast Asian ride-hailing firm Grab
* $3 billion in South Korean e-commerce firm Coupang
Note: investment figures from company filings, Reuters reports
SIZE OF VISION FUND
* The fund has invested $71.4 billion in 83 firms, recording $20.2
billion in investment gains and distributing $6.4 billion to its
investors as at the end of June.
* SoftBank contributed $20.5 billion to the fund. The firm has $25.3
billion in unrealized investment gains, $3.2 billion in undistributed
manager performance fees and $1.6 billion in realized proceeds.
PAPER MONEY, BIG BLACK BOX
* The Vision Fund's $20.2 billion of investment gains are mostly on
paper and its valuations are under growing downward pressure as shares
in four of the fund's five listed portfolio firms have fallen sharply in
the three months through September.
Those newly listed firms are Uber, Slack Technologies Inc <WORK.N>,
Guardant Health Inc <GH.O>, ZhongAn Online P&C Insurance Co Ltd
<6060.HK> and Ping An Healthcare and Technology Co Ltd (Ping An Good
Doctor) <1833.HK>.
* The two major realized gains are from sales of its investments in
Indian e-commerce firm Flipkart and U.S. chipmaker Nvidia Corp <NVDA.O>.
Shares in SoftBank Group fell over the same period.
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Japan's SoftBank Group Corp Chief Executive Masayoshi Son attends a
news conference in Tokyo, Japan, November 5, 2018. REUTERS/Kim
Kyung-Hoon/File Photo
INVESTMENT BY SECTOR
* Transportation & logistics:
Notable investments: Uber, Didi, Grab, General Motors Co's <GM.N> self-driving
unit Cruise, food delivery firm Doordash and German used-car dealing platform
Auto1.
Total investments: $28.3 billion. SoftBank reported their worth at $33 billion
at June-end.
* Frontier tech:
Notable investments: Chip designer Arm, autonomous robotics firm Brain,
self-driving car camera firm Light and virtual simulation firm Improbable.
Total investments: $10.5 billion. Now worth $11.2 billion.
* Consumer tech:
Notable investments: Coupang, Indonesian e-commerce firm Tokopedia, Indian hotel
chain Oyo and online grocer Grofers, U.S. indoor farming firm Plenty and dog
walking app Wag.
Total investments: $10.1 billion. Now worth $14.8 billion.
* Real estate:
Notable investments: WeWork, online real estate marketplaces Compass and
Opendoor and construction firm Katerra.
Total investments: $8 billion. Now worth $9.9 billion.
* Fintech:
Notable investments: Indian QR code payment app Paytm, online lenders Kabbage
and Oaknorth and online insurance firms ZhongAn in China and PolicyBazaar in
India.
Total investments: $3.7 billion. Now worth $4.2 billion.
* Health tech:
Notable investments: China's Ping An Good Doctor, U.S. cancer testing firm
Guardant and Swiss drugmaker Roivant Sciences.
Total investments: $2.8 billion. Now worth $4.7 billion.
* Enterprise:
Notable investments: Workplace messaging app Slack, data storage firm Cohesity
and mapping company Mapbox.
Total investments: $2.7 billion. Now worth $4.1 billion.
Sources: SoftBank and portfolio company documents and filings.
(Reporting by Anirban Sen and C Nivedita in Bengaluru and Sam Nussey in Tokyo;
Additional reporting by Heekyong Yang; Editing by Miyoung Kim and Christopher
Cushing)
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