SoftBank’s Vision Fund raises $93 billion, becoming world’s largest private equity fund

The Vision fund's investors includes names such as Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Investment, Apple, Qualcomm, Foxconn Technology and Sharp Corp.
SoftBank’s Vision Fund raises $93 billion, becoming world’s largest private equity fund
SoftBank’s Vision Fund raises $93 billion, becoming world’s largest private equity fund
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SoftBank Vision Fund, the world's largest private equity fund has raised over $93 billion, which it plans on investing in technology sectors such as artificial intelligence and robotics, as per a Reuters report.

The fund, backed by Japanese conglomerate SoftBank Group and Saudi Arabia's main sovereign wealth fund, said that the next stage of the Information Revolution is under way, and to build businesses that will make this possible, an unprecedented large-scale and long-term investment is required.

Plans for this fund were revealed last October by Masayoshi Son, chairman of SoftBank. As per the Reuters reports, it has managed to obtain commitments from some of the world’s most deep-pocketed investors.

In addition to Softbank and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), the SoftBank Vision fund's investors include Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Investment, Apple, Qualcomm, Foxconn Technology and Sharp Corp. Of this, The Mubadala group has committed $15 billion.

The announcement for the fund was made During US President Donald Trump’s visit to Riyadh.

According to the report, Son pledged $50 billion of investment in the United States that would create 50,000 jobs last December, a promise Trump claimed was a direct result of his election win.

The first sign of the PIF’s interest in the tech sector was its $3.5 billion investment in ride-hailing major Uber last year. While Saturday's statement did not reveal how much the PIF had committed to the fund, but previously it has said it would invest up to $45 billion over five years. Softbank is investing $28 billion.

The new fund will look to buy minority and majority interests in private and public companies, from emerging to established, multi-billion dollar firms. Reuters reports that the fund expects to obtain preferred access to long-term investment opportunities worth $100 million or more.

Apart from tech, the fund may invest in mobile computing, communications infrastructure, computational biology, consumer internet businesses and financial technology.

The aim for the SoftBank Vision Fund is $100 billion of committed capital and it expects to complete raising the required money in six months, it added.

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