Fortress Acquisition May Be The Beginning Of SoftBank's Real Estate Activity
The Securities and Exchange Commission's investigation into insider trading allegations in SoftBank's $3.3B acquisition of Fortress Investment Group does not seem to be spoiling the Japanese telecom giant's appetite for U.S. commercial real estate and tech. In fact, the Fortress acquistion may just be the beginning, according to CrediFi CEO Ely Razin.
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son is betting that the American real estate market will remain a safe investment, in spite of the nation's political turmoil. Son, who pledged $50B for U.S. investment, is close to finalizing a $3B stake in WeWork and is considering a $500M investment in Indian hotel deal site OYO.
It is unknown whether the insider trading investigation into the Fortress acquisition will have any effect on SoftBank's future moves. The SEC last week froze $3.6M in profits earned by customers of London brokerage R.J. O'Brien and Singapore brokerage house Maybank Kin Eng Securities, alleging the firms had non-public info on the deal and bought shares of Fortress contract for difference derivative securities, which are prohibited in the U.S. Contract of difference securities stipulate that the seller will pay to the buyer the difference between the current value of an asset and its value at contract time.
