Citing people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reported that SoftBank Group plans to issue over $11 billion in non-investment-grade bonds to raise funds for increasing its investment in OpenAI; if fully executed, the deal could set a record for this type of bond issuance by a single company.
Sources revealed that SoftBank plans to issue US dollar-denominated bonds across three maturities totaling $10 billion, alongside euro-denominated bonds across two maturities totaling €1 billion ($1.1 billion). A portion of the proceeds will be used for an additional investment in OpenAI, with the transaction expected to close next month. Pricing for the bonds could take place as early as Thursday.
SoftBank is a leading global investor in AI; having committed nearly $65 billion to OpenAI, the company’s ability to eventually profit from this stake is becoming increasingly critical to its financial performance.
SoftBank secured a $40 billion bridge loan in March to fund additional investment in OpenAI and has recently repaid the outstanding $25.9 billion balance. To meet the capital requirements for expanding its AI investments, SoftBank has frequently tapped the debt markets.
As of the end of last week, SoftBank’s potential new borrowing had reached nearly $21 billion. People familiar with the matter said last Friday that SoftBank increased a loan backed by shares of its chip unit, Arm Holdings, by $5 billion to $25 billion, and also raised an existing credit facility by $450 million to $6.5 billion.
Apollo Global Management is also in talks to increase the loan it provides to SoftBank by $3.6 billion to $9 billion, helping to fund SoftBank’s investment in OpenAI. Sources indicated that SoftBank—founded and led by Masayoshi Son—secured an additional $11.87 billion loan, also intended to support the OpenAI investment.
To raise capital this year, SoftBank has issued nearly $15 billion in bonds across various currencies. Data compiled by Bloomberg shows that SoftBank is the largest non-investment-grade issuer in the debt market so far in 2026. The company also secured a $10 billion loan this year backed by its OpenAI stake.
Borrowing costs have generally risen as most major economies combat inflation. Bloomberg data indicates that the yield on SoftBank’s dollar-denominated bonds maturing in 2031 rose to 8.2% earlier this month—up from a low of 6.7% in January—driven by widening credit spreads and climbing U.S. Treasury yields.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman stated that the company would not go public this year. An IPO could have enhanced the liquidity of SoftBank’s investment, so investors have been closely monitoring his comments.