SoftBank selects Nomura, Goldman Sachs to lead IPO

Tokyo: SoftBank Group has picked banks including Nomura Holdings and Goldman Sachs as lead underwriters for the initial public offering of its Japanese wireless business, said people with knowledge of the matter.

The joint global coordinators will help the company sell about 3 trillion yen ($27 billion) of shares, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the details are private. The mobile operator currently plans to start marketing the sale next month and list the shares on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on December 19, although the timing could change, the people said.

A deal of that size will be the biggest IPO ever, surpassing Alibaba Group Holding’s $25-billion offering in 2014, providing prestige as well as potentially lucrative fees for the lead underwriters. Tokyobased SoftBank plans to market most of the shares to Japanese individuals, Bloomberg News has reported.


Representatives for SoftBank and the securities firms declined to comment.