Japan-based telecommunications group SoftBank has increased the size of its Vision Fund to almost $98.6bn and is looking to open an office in China.
SoftBank established Vision Fund with $28bn of cash and assets plus $1bn each from corporate limited partners Apple, Foxconn, Qualcomm and Sharp, $45bn from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and $15bn from Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company.
The vehicle reached a $93bn first close in May 2017 and had been expanded to $97.7bn by November the same year. SoftBank has set a $100bn target for its final close.
Vision Fund revealed in a securities filing on Monday that it has now raised $98.6bn from 14 investors, up from $93.2bn from eight investors in 2017. SoftBank has previously revealed in a financial report last month that it had invested $5bn in the fund in the meantime.
The news emerged as two people with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters today that Vision Fund is putting together a Chinese team in preparation for the opening of an office in the city of Shanghai in 2019.
SoftBank Investment Advisers, the entity that manages Vision Fund, hired Eric Chen, a managing director for private equity firm Silver Lake, earlier this year to helm the Chinese team, the sources told Reuters.
Vision Fund has long maintained a presence in London, in the UK, and has also launched offices in India and Saudi Arabia this year.
The fund’s Chinese investments already include participation in a $3bn round for digital media operator Bytedance, a $1.9bn round for trucking services marketplace Manbang Group and a $1.15bn series A round for Ping An Healthcare and Technology, a subsidiary of insurance firm Ping An.
