SoftBank executives renew talks on taking the group private

TOKYO: Executives of SoftBank Group Corp are once again considering taking the technology group private as the Japanese company seeks a new strategy after disposing of several large assets, the Financial Times reported on Sunday citing people familiar with the matter.

The discussions are driven by frustrations over the continuous discount in SoftBank's equity valuation compared with the value of its individual holdings, which continues even after an asset sale programme tried to close that gap, the newspaper said. The talks on taking the company private have also been speeded up due to number of fundamental changes to SoftBank's long-term business strategy, FT reported citing people close to the company's senior management.

SoftBank was not immediately available for Reuters request for comment. On Saturday, Reuters reported that Nvidia Corp is close to a deal to buy British chip designer Arm Holdings from SoftBank Group for more than $40 billion.