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Son Masayoshi
Alessandro Di Ciommo | NurPhoto | Getty Images
SoftBank announced Friday the launch of its second mega fund for technology companies developing artificial intelligence technologies around the world.
The total expected contribution to the Japanese conglomerate's SoftBank Vision Fund 2 fund and other partners is approximately US $ 108 billion, based on a series of memoranda of understanding, said the company.
For its part, SoftBank announced its intention to bring $ 38 billion to the new fund.
Some of the key companies expected to participate in Vision Fund 2 include: Apple, Microsoft, Foxconn's iPhone badembler, Standard Chartered Bank, Japanese financial giants Mizuho Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and MUFG Bank .
Other companies include the National Investment Corporation of the National Bank of Kazakhstan and Taiwanese investors.
The sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi, the main backers of the first Vision Fund, were notably absent from the list of investors expected from SoftBank on Friday.
The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday, citing unnamed sources, that Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi had announced plans to invest again, but Riyadh's pledge will be lower than the $ 45 billion invested in the first fund.
SoftBank stated that the expected total capital injection is expected to increase through ongoing discussions with other participants. If the partners meet their financial commitments, the second fund should generate more than the $ 100 billion of the first.
The first fund is known to have invested billions of dollars in global technology and telecommunication companies. The fund, which generated a partner rate of return of about 45% after deducting equity-based fees, invested in companies such as Uber, Slack, The We Company (formerly known as from WeWork), as well as in the Indian e-commerce company Flipkart.
In May, CEO Masayoshi Son had said in a call for results that Vision Fund 2 was intended to match the size of its predecessor.
The shares of the SoftBank group rose by 0.59% in morning trading.
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