SoftBank’s Vision Fund is setting up an investment team in China, according to two people with knowledge of the deal, as it aims to disburse part of its $100bn kitty in the country that is home to some of the world’s biggest tech start-ups.
The fund, whose backers include Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, Apple and Qualcomm, has invested billions of dollars in companies such as WeWork and Uber, shaking up the tech sector and putting SoftBank at the heart of many of the world’s biggest fundraisings.
But the latest move comes as US national security regulators have stepped up their scrutiny of deals carried out by SoftBank, the Japanese telecoms group, over worries about its founder Masayoshi Son’s connections to China.