SoftBank Group plans to issue a record one trillion yen ($6.3 billion) retail bond in Japan, the biggest by any issuer in the country, as the conglomerate raises funds for its investment commitments to OpenAI and data center expansion. The seven-year bonds are expected to be priced on September 4 with an indicative coupon range of 4.3% to 4.9%, according to a company filing submitted Monday. The sale comes as SoftBank has committed more than $60 billion to investments in OpenAI and has been accelerating data center construction to meet growing demand from hyperscalers for AI computing capacity.
A Record-Breaking Issuance
SoftBank’s yen 1 trillion retail bond offering is the largest ever targeted at Japanese individual investors, surpassing the company’s own record of 600 billion yen ($4 billion) set last year. It marks the third retail bond sale of 2026 for SoftBank, following issuances of 418 billion yen in April and 260 billion yen in June.
The company plans to use the proceeds to refinance 400 billion yen of retail bonds maturing in September and to secure funding for its AI strategy investments, according to a SoftBank spokesperson. The coupon range of 4.3% to 4.9% represents a significant increase from the 3.98% yield on SoftBank’s 500 billion yen bond issued in November 2025 and the 3.15% yield on bonds issued in December 2024.
“The company is betting that retail investors will buy a product offering an attractive yield, and it appears confident it can tap demand at a time when few fixed-income products can beat inflation,” said Yuuki Fukumoto, senior financial researcher at NLI Research Institute.
The AI Funding Race
The bond sale underscores the escalating competition among tech companies globally to raise capital for AI infrastructure. Alphabet, Meta Platforms, Microsoft and Amazon have collectively pledged nearly $2.4 trillion in AI-related spending, while Chinese firms including ByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent have committed approximately $118 billion, according to Capital Group estimates.
Alibaba itself raised $10.2 billion in Hong Kong’s largest-ever share placement on August 24, with shares falling as much as 10.5% on the dilution news. The fundraising arrived alongside a 75% quarterly profit decline driven by AI spending, though CEO Eddie Wu said the investments should break even within 2.5 to 3 years.
SoftBank shares fell 5.3% to 4,975 yen in Tokyo on Monday. Despite the record issuance, credit analyst Sharon Chen at Bloomberg Intelligence warned that SoftBank faces a shortfall exceeding $20 billion even after this bond sale, signaling a high likelihood of additional offshore bond issuance in the near term.
Rating and Risks
SoftBank said the bonds are expected to receive an A rating from Japan Credit Rating Agency, though the company’s long-term issuer credit rating remains at BB+ from S&P Global Ratings, one notch below investment grade. S&P revised its outlook to stable from negative on July 16, citing improved financial ratios.
The growing reliance on retail investors for AI-related corporate bond sales is becoming a structural concern in Japan. Total retail-targeted corporate bond issuance this year is expected to reach a record 2.8 trillion yen, potentially drawing down bank deposits and reducing flows into government bonds and tax-exempt investment products.
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