SoftBank Invests $500 Million in Supply Chain Finance Fund

Vision Fund Supports Venture Companies Through Investment

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] It has been confirmed that SoftBank has invested $500 million (approximately 600 billion KRW) in Credit Suisse's supply chain finance fund.

SoftBank's Vision Fund has been providing support through the supply chain finance fund after recording massive losses in venture investments.

According to major foreign media on the 15th, SoftBank has poured more than $500 million into Credit Suisse's $7.5 billion supply chain finance fund. The supply chain finance fund combines supply chain management techniques with fintech and is regarded as a new financial business model that helps small businesses struggling with financing difficulties. Retailers operating on online platforms like Amazon are the target beneficiaries.

Credit Suisse has promoted this supply chain finance fund to investors as an "attractive investment option for safely storing cash in the short term."

It is interpreted that SoftBank's investment in Credit Suisse's supply chain finance fund is to support the venture companies invested in by the Vision Fund. According to Credit Suisse, as of the end of March, four of the top 10 companies most exposed to the supply chain finance fund’s investors are companies invested in by the Vision Fund. Fifteen percent of the fund's capital was allocated to these companies.

A representative case is the UK-based Greensill Capital. Greensill Capital is a fintech startup in which the Vision Fund has invested a total of $1.5 billion, acquiring 15-20% of its shares. Since its founding in 2011 under the slogan "Making finance fairer," Greensill Capital has supported over 8 million small and medium-sized enterprise customers in more than 60 countries worldwide with a total of $150 billion (approximately 183 trillion KRW). However, recently, as Greensill Capital's customers have experienced successive defaults due to the COVID-19 pandemic, investors have withdrawn more than $1.5 billion, causing difficulties.

Earlier, SoftBank Chairman Masayoshi Son stated during the first-quarter earnings announcement that despite the worst performance with a loss of 16 trillion KRW, "We will not inject funds to rescue failing companies, but we will cautiously and steadily continue to discover and invest in new opportunities."

Meanwhile, SoftBank has selected healthcare, mobility, and fintech as its three core investment sectors and has been providing steady support.

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