SoftBank Group's stock ticked upward on Thursday following news that the company has resumed negotiations over a proposed $10 billion loan secured by its stake in OpenAI. The shares rose 2.3% to trade at ¥6,137, outpacing Japan's broader market where the Nikkei 225 gained roughly 0.5%.
The financing under discussion is a margin loan that would be backed primarily by SoftBank's holding in the privately held artificial intelligence developer. Earlier efforts to complete a similar deal stalled after potential lenders expressed reluctance to accept a privately held OpenAI stake as sole collateral, citing difficulties valuing and selling such assets.
To mitigate those concerns, the current proposal includes a corporate guarantee from SoftBank. Under that structure, lenders would have recourse to the company itself if the pledged OpenAI interest proved insufficient to satisfy the loan in full. The addition of a corporate backstop is intended to make the proposed facility more acceptable to a lending syndicate.
Reports indicate that Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Mizuho Financial Group are expected to participate in the lending group. The arrangement would form part of a broader financing approach used by SoftBank as it pursues a larger build-out of artificial intelligence investments.
SoftBank's push to expand exposure to AI is reflected in commitments of more than $60 billion tied to OpenAI and related AI infrastructure projects, including the Stargate data center venture. To support that aggressive investment posture, the company has increasingly relied on debt and asset-backed financing.
Market participants and potential lenders have been more cautious about loans secured by stakes in privately held companies because such holdings lack the ready marketability and transparent pricing of publicly traded shares. That caution previously led SoftBank to scale back its financing target after encountering resistance from banks.
One factor that could ease collateral valuation in the future is a public listing by OpenAI. The company confidentially filed for a U.S. initial public offering last month, a development that could, if it proceeds to a public listing, make SoftBank's investment simpler to price and potentially more useful as collateral for lenders.
Market context - The proposed margin loan is presented as a financing tool to allow SoftBank to continue funding large-scale AI investments while addressing lender appetite for privately held equity as collateral. The involvement of major global banks and the addition of a corporate guarantee illustrate how deal structures are being adapted to bridge the valuation and liquidity gap posed by private-company stakes.