Japan's SoftBank (OTC: SFTBF) is finding slim interest among deep-pocketed investors for the sequel to its gargantuan $100 billion Vision Fund investment pool. The Wall Street Journal reports today that a new fund originally projected at $108 billion may end up raising less than half the targeted amount, with most of the capital contributed by SoftBank itself.
The Journal reports that Vision Fund's two biggest investors, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Abu Dhabi's state-controlled Mubadala Investment Co., have balked at bankrolling the new fund. Adding complexity to the situation, activist investor Elliott Management Corp. is arguing for SoftBank's management to allocate excess cash to share repurchases to boost the company's lagging stock price. The hedge fund has a particularly loud megaphone given its $2.5 billion equity interest in SoftBank.
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