SoftBank's value rose to its highest level since June after it acquired shares in T-Mobile US for $7.6 billion, as part of an agreement concluded when the wireless communications company merged with its competitor Sprint in 2020.
Shares of the investment company rose 7% on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. SoftBank said on Tuesday that it will acquire 48,751,557 shares of T-Mobile US at no additional cost, after the stock met conditions specified during the historic deal with Sprint, a subsidiary of SoftBank.
Under the agreement, the Japanese investment firm will acquire T-Mobile shares if the value of the average price weighted by trading volume over the past 45 days, a measure of the stock's valuation, is equal to or greater than $150 at any time after the completion of the deal two years until the end of 2025.
The deal may improve SoftBank's balance sheet, indicating the potential for new capital.
Sprint's merger with T-Mobile was one of the industry's largest deals ever, worth approximately $37 billion. SoftBank gradually raised its capital this year and accelerated the pace of its investments, anticipating improved market conditions in 2024.
Masayoshi Son, founder of SoftBank, is betting on the fields of artificial intelligence and autonomous driving, trying to improve the company's reputation after a series of notable missteps in recent years.
