Latham & Watkins has advised the initial purchasers on SoftBank Group Corp.’s US$11.1 billion multicurrency bond offering — the largest high-yield corporate bond issuance ever in the global capital markets.
The offering comprised US$10 billion of dollar-denominated senior notes across three tranches — due in 3.5 years, in 5.5 years, and in 7.5 years — alongside €1 billion of euro-denominated senior notes in two tranches maturing in four and six years. The transaction marks SoftBank’s high-profile return to the 144A market and cements the Japanese tech investment conglomerate as the largest issuer in the global high-yield index, with US$14.6 billion in high-yield issuance in 2026 alone.
SoftBank will use the proceeds to fund the final US$10 billion tranche of its US$30 billion follow-on investment in OpenAI, with the remainder to be used for general corporate purposes. The offering drew strong investor demand and signals a shift from investment-grade debt issuance by US hyperscalers to large-scale, AI-focused issuance in the high-yield market.
Latham’s cross-border team was led by London partners Francesco Lione and Manoj Tulsiani, with associates Carolina Gori, Cristina Palma, Edward Lee, Noor Din, and Manu Honkanen. Advice on Investment Company Act matters was provided by Washington, D.C. partners Paul Dudek and Aaron Gilbride; on Asia capital markets matters by Tokyo partner Hiroaki Takagi, with foreign legal consultant Jose Mendoza; and on tax matters by New York partner Aaron Bernstein, with associate James Aldred.
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