SoftBank Group announced plans to raise ¥1 trillion (about US$6.3 billion) through a retail bond sale in Japan. The offering would be the largest ever by any issuer in the country and is scheduled for pricing on September 4, 2026 [1, 2, 3, 4].

The bonds will have a seven-year maturity and are expected to carry an indicative coupon range between 4.3% and 4.9%. Analysts anticipate the coupon will price toward the upper end of that range, with Sharon Chen from Bloomberg Intelligence stating the offering "is likely to price towards the upper end of a 4.3%-4.9% indicative coupon" [2].

This issuance will be SoftBank’s third retail bond sale in 2026. The company previously raised ¥418 billion in April and ¥260 billion in June through similar offerings [2, 3, 4].

SoftBank is raising funds to support more than US$60 billion in investments committed to OpenAI. The company is also accelerating investments in data centers to expand computing capacity amid growing AI demand [2, 3, 4]. To reduce its fundraising target from about US$10 billion to around US$6 billion, SoftBank has considered using a margin loan backed by its OpenAI stake [2, 3].

Despite the large bond sale, SoftBank faces a funding shortfall exceeding US$20 billion, likely necessitating further offshore bond issuances [2, 4]. S&P Global Ratings revised SoftBank’s outlook to stable from negative on July 16, 2026, while affirming its BB+ long-term issuer credit rating [2, 3]. Japan Credit Rating Agency is expected to assign an A rating to the new bonds [4].

Yuuki Fukumoto, senior financial researcher at NLI Research Institute, said, "The company is betting that retail investors will buy a product offering an attractive yield, and it appears confident it can tap demand at a time when there are few fixed-income products that can beat inflation" [2]. However, Fukumoto also noted that "banks are finding it difficult to take on the risk given weak deposit growth, the credit rating and the seven-year duration, leaving the deal more reliant on retail investors" [4].

SoftBank’s funding effort parallels other technology firms investing heavily in AI, including Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, Amazon, and Alibaba [2, 4].

The expected pricing date of September 4 remains the key upcoming milestone for the bond offering [1, 2, 3, 4].