Japan's first $10 billion unicorn is about to be born! Softbank's PayPay secretly applies for an IPO in the US.

SoftBank Group's (SFTBY.US) digital payment service provider PayPay Corp. has secretly submitted a draft application for listing in the United States, a move that may give rise to Japan's first "unicorn" company with a valuation exceeding $1 billion. According to sources familiar with the matter, SoftBank Group has set a valuation target of over 1.5 trillion yen (approximately $10 billion) for PayPay. Since the discussions are not public yet, these sources have requested anonymity. Compiled data shows that if successful, this will be the largest IPO project by a Japanese company on the US stock exchange. SoftBank Corp., which holds shares in PayPay, did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside of business hours. Its parent company SoftBank Group and PayPay have both declined to comment on the valuation rumors. As the leading QR code payment app in the Japanese market, PayPay was initially established as a joint venture with the investment portfolio company Paytm. According to Japanese media reports, a transaction last year valued the company at around $7 billion. In a statement on Friday, SoftBank Group stated that the specific timeline, issuance size, and pricing for the listing of PayPay American Depositary Receipts have not been finalized. The listing plan will depend on market conditions and must go through the approval process of the US Securities and Exchange Commission. SoftBank Group has been raising funds for new investments in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) for Masayoshi Son through asset securitization and exits from investments in the Vision Fund, including a recent additional sale of $3 billion worth of T-Mobile (TMUS.US) stock. Earlier this month, reports indicated that the Japanese company had selected an underwriter for PayPay's US IPO. The statement emphasized that after the listing, PayPay will continue to operate as a subsidiary of SoftBank Corp., and it is expected that this IPO will not have a substantial impact on SoftBank Group's consolidated financial statements.