Fortress platform

15 February 2017 By Tom Buerkle

SoftBank boss Masayoshi Son is following through – in a big, unexpected way – on his investment pledge to Donald Trump. Buying Fortress for $3.3 bln won’t add any tech luster to SoftBank, but the $70 bln alternative-investment firm provides a platform for acquisition-led growth.

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SoftBank Group on Feb. 14 said it had agreed to buy Fortress Investment Group for $3.3 billion in cash. The purchase price of $8.08 per share represents a premium of 38.6 percent over the prior day's closing price of the New York-based private equity and asset management firm.

Fortress's co-founders and principals - Peter Briger, Wesley Edens and Randal Nardone – have agreed to continue to lead the firm as an independent subsidiary of the Japanese technology and telecoms group, and to invest half of their after-tax proceeds from the deal in the firm's funds.

SoftBank's chairman and chief executive, Masayoshi Son, said the acquisition "will immediately help expand our group capabilities, and, alongside our soon-to-be-established SoftBank Vision Fund platform, will accelerate our SoftBank 2.0 transformation strategy of bold, disciplined investment and world class execution to drive sustainable long-term growth."

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