SoftBank sells US$4.8 billion stake in T-Mobile to further cash in on AI layout

SoftBank Group raised approximately $4.8 billion by selling shares of T-Mobile (TMUS.US), which will provide funding support for the Japanese company's ambitious artificial intelligence plans. The final terms of the deal showed that the technology conglomerate, based in Tokyo, sold 21.5 million shares of T-Mobile stock at a price of $224 per share, priced at a 3% discount to T-Mobile's closing price of $230.99 on Monday, through an overnight block trade completed. SoftBank is significantly increasing its investments in order to surpass human AI reasoning capabilities: its plan is to invest up to $30 billion in OpenAI, and to partner with them to invest hundreds of billions in American and global data centers and related infrastructure. The company's initial debt-financing plans were hindered by uncertainties in US tariff policies. After the announcement of the deal, T-Mobile's stock price fell by 3.9% after hours, accumulating a 4.7% increase for the year up to Monday's close; SoftBank's stock in Tokyo rose by 2.3% in early trading. As of the time of writing, T-Mobile's after-hours trading fell by 2.6%. According to Bloomberg data, this transaction is the largest US stock sale since Toronto-Dominion Bank sold shares of Charles Schwab Corp (SCHW.US) for $13.1 billion in February of this year. So far this year, the size of US-listed companies' new stock and stock offerings has reached $91.4 billion, higher than the $75.9 billion in the same period last year. The sale of T-Mobile shares is the latest case of SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son using past investment successes (such as the early bet on Alibaba Group Holding Limited Sponsored ADR, which yielded returns of thousands of times) to provide funding for new businesses. In April 2020, T-Mobile completed the acquisition of Sprint Corp. for $26.5 billion, resulting in SoftBank acquiring T-Mobile shares; later that year, SoftBank significantly reduced its T-Mobile shares through a $21 billion transaction, providing funds for a record stock buyback. According to Bloomberg calculations, this share sale represents approximately 1.9% of T-Mobile's outstanding shares. SoftBank's annual report shows that as of March 31, it held 85.4 million shares of T-Mobile stock, representing a 7.5% stake. According to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on June 12, Deutsche Telekom AG holds the largest stake in T-Mobile at 59%. The terms of the deal show that Bank of America Corp is the exclusive bookrunner for this transaction.