Eight banks have agreed to act as sub-underwriters for SoftBank’s $40 billion bridge loan, the company’s largest dollar-denominated loan ever, reports Bloomberg.
HSBC, BNP Paribas, and Intesa Sanpaolo have joined the original arrangers, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Mizuho Bank, SMBC, and MUFG Bank, to help distribute the loan to more creditors.
The loan is a 12-month unsecured bridge facility, signed on March 27 and maturing in March 2027, with no collateral required. SoftBank used the money for a $30 billion follow-on investment in OpenAI through Vision Fund 2.
This was part of OpenAI’s $110 billion funding round, which valued the company at $852 billion.
Since the loan is unsecured, lenders do not have OpenAI shares or SoftBank’s stake in Arm Holdings as collateral. The loan matures in 12 months, and the main way to repay it is through an OpenAI IPO.
OpenAI is reportedly aiming for a public listing as early as the fourth quarter of 2026. If that happens, SoftBank would get the cash it needs to pay back the loan. Each bank involved is betting that OpenAI will go public on time and at a high enough value for SoftBank to repay the $40 billion within a year.
If the IPO is delayed or priced below expectations, SoftBank will face serious pressure to refinance. The banks involved have considered this risk, but the accuracy of their assessment depends almost entirely on a listing decision that OpenAI has not yet confirmed.
