SoftBank Group has raised a total of $11.1 billion through dollar- and euro-denominated bonds as the Japanese technology investor looks to generate funds for its artificial intelligence investments, including its planned investment in OpenAI. The details were disclosed in a company filing on September 24, 2026.
The bond issue includes three dollar-denominated senior-note tranches. SoftBank issued $1 billion with a three-and-a-half-year maturity, $4.5 billion with a five-and-a-half-year maturity and another $4.5 billion with a seven-and-a-half-year maturity. The notes carry interest rates of 8.625%, 9.25% and 9.75%, respectively.
The company also issued two euro-denominated senior-note tranches of €500 million each. The notes have four-year and six-year maturities and carry yields of 7.125% and 8%, respectively.
The proceeds are intended to help fund the final $10 billion tranche of SoftBank’s previously announced $30 billion commitment to invest in OpenAI. Once the full investment is completed, SoftBank’s cumulative investment in OpenAI is expected to reach $64.6 billion, representing an ownership interest of approximately 13%.
SoftBank announced in February that it would make a further $30 billion investment in OpenAI through three $10 billion tranches. The first tranche was scheduled for April 1, 2026, the second for July 1 and the third for October 1, subject to the applicable closing conditions.
The latest fundraising follows a separate 1 trillion yen ($6.32 billion) corporate bond issue by SoftBank earlier in September, which was aimed at retail investors.
The size of SoftBank’s latest bond sale makes it the largest high-yield corporate bond issuance globally if completed as planned, surpassing the $10.9 billion issuance by French telecom company Numericable Group in 2014, according to LSEG data cited by Reuters. SoftBank has issued $14.6 billion in high-yield bonds so far in 2026, accounting for 63.4% of the Asia-Pacific and Japan high-yield corporate bond market.
SoftBank’s broader AI investment programme also includes its planned $5.4 billion acquisition of ABB’s robotics business and its $3.1 billion acquisition of DigitalBridge. The company has also raised funds through asset sales and loans backed by holdings in Arm and OpenAI.
The latest bond issue comes as SoftBank increases its financial exposure to AI-related investments. Reuters reported that the company’s five-year credit default swap spread had risen above 400 basis points during the week, compared with around 280 basis points in June. CreditSights has also pointed to increased concentration in SoftBank’s assets and pressure on cash flow.
At the same time, S&P Global Ratings said Arm’s share-price performance had supported SoftBank’s credit quality and that the delay to OpenAI’s planned IPO did not have an immediate negative effect on the company’s creditworthiness.
SoftBank’s latest financing highlights the scale of capital it is deploying toward OpenAI and other AI-related investments as the group continues to build its position in the artificial intelligence sector.
