SoftBank Group has reopened discussions with a group of banks about arranging a $10 billion loan that would be secured by its ownership stake in OpenAI, sources familiar with the negotiations said. The move follows an earlier attempt to obtain financing that stalled when lenders raised concerns about the difficulty of valuing equity in a private company.
To address those valuation concerns and make potential lenders more comfortable, SoftBank is offering an additional assurance: it would guarantee repayment of the loan. Under that proposal, banks would have recourse to SoftBank itself if the OpenAI shares pledged as collateral fall in value, according to the people familiar with the talks.
The lending consortium under discussion is expected to include Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Mizuho Financial Group, the sources said. Those institutions, along with SoftBank and OpenAI, did not provide comments when contacted; Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Mizuho explicitly declined to comment, the sources added.
The renewed efforts reflect an attempt to bridge a specific lender concern highlighted during the earlier stalled negotiations: how to establish a reliable valuation for private company shares used as loan collateral. By offering a repayment guarantee backed by SoftBank, the company is proposing an alternative means of protecting lenders against downside in the pledged OpenAI holdings.
While the guarantee would shift some risk back onto SoftBank rather than leaving lenders dependent solely on the market value of the privately held OpenAI stake, the discussions remain ongoing and the arrangement has not been finalized, according to the individuals briefed on the matter.
Clear summary
SoftBank has re-engaged a banking consortium on a $10 billion loan using its OpenAI stake as collateral and is offering to guarantee repayment to make the deal more palatable to lenders who earlier expressed valuation concerns. The expected lenders include Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Mizuho Financial Group, none of which commented, and SoftBank and OpenAI also did not respond to requests for comment.
Key points
- SoftBank is pursuing a $10 billion loan secured by its OpenAI stake.
- To alleviate lender concerns about valuing private company shares, SoftBank would guarantee repayment, providing banks recourse to the company if the pledged OpenAI shares lose value.
- The lending group is expected to include Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Mizuho Financial Group; the firms named declined to comment.
Risks and uncertainties
- Ongoing difficulty valuing private-company shares could continue to impede the transaction - impacting banking and private capital markets.
- If the OpenAI shares used as collateral decline in value, the banks could seek repayment from SoftBank under the guarantee, which shifts credit exposure back to the lender group and affects bank balance-sheet risk.
- The talks remain active and the arrangement is not finalized; the lack of comment from the parties involved leaves timing and terms uncertain, which may weigh on investor and market sentiment toward the institutions named.