Despite SoftBank Asset Sales, Coupang Remains Unaffected

No Issues in Fundraising Despite SoftBank's Instability

[Asia Economy Reporter Minji Lee] It is forecasted that SoftBank, Japan's largest IT investment company, will have little impact on the e-commerce company Coupang despite its asset sale policy.

On the 25th, SK Securities predicted that Masayoshi Son, chairman of SoftBank, would continue to make additional investments in Coupang. This means that Coupang will not be affected by SoftBank's asset sale policy. SK Securities researcher Seungwoo Yoo said, "Coupang will launch the Coupang Fulfillment service, which can induce a turnaround to profitability ahead of its IPO," adding, "Given the alliance between Chairman Masayoshi Son and Naver's Lee Hae-jin last year, Coupang's value can only increase."

According to recent Japanese media reports, SoftBank plans to sell assets worth 4.5 trillion yen (51.7 trillion KRW). Over the course of a year, the company intends to liquidate assets to acquire treasury stock and reduce debt. Of the cash assets, 2 trillion yen (23 trillion KRW) will be used for share buybacks, and the remaining funds will be allocated to debt reduction.

Accordingly, the market anticipates that companies invested in by SoftBank may face bankruptcy. In fact, OneWeb, a U.S. telecommunications satellite venture backed by SoftBank, is considering filing for bankruptcy, and on March 10, the U.S. startup Brandless shut down.

Researcher Yoo said, "While it cannot be ruled out that the Vision Fund might sell Coupang shares, Coupang has shown stable growth despite the impact of COVID-19," explaining, "According to February transaction data, Coupang recorded its highest-ever transaction volume of 1.63 trillion KRW in that month alone."

Researcher Yoo added, "Even if Masayoshi Son's SoftBank wavers, there is no difficulty in Coupang attracting additional investments."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.