SoftBank divestitures set stage to shop again soon 1 Sep 2020 Offloading a 22% stake in the Japanese telecom arm will help reach a $41 bln fundraising target set in March. Chip designer Arm may go too. Prodding from Elliott has helped SoftBank shares more than double, but boss Masayoshi Son is a buyer at heart. He must be getting itchy.
Telecom Italia network spinoff is imperfect 1 Sep 2020 Selling a chunk of its grid to KKR for 1.8 bln euros should help the operator fund investment in faster connections. Other indebted European telcos may follow. But a messy merger with state-backed rival Open Fiber risks choking competition and stalling Italy’s broadband upgrade.
Rocket’s $3 bln delisting leaves investors adrift 1 Sep 2020 Even as tech stocks surge, Oliver Samwer’s German investment vehicle has concluded it doesn’t belong on the public market. His plan to take Rocket Internet private gives small shareholders two unappealing options: cash out with no premium or hang on with little hope of liquidity.