SoftBank Group will announce at least ¥1 trillion of additional asset-backed financing by March 2027.

Japan’s Finance Ministry has raised the 10-year government bond coupon to 3.1%, pushing up the benchmark from which domestic corporate debt is priced. The timing is particularly difficult for SoftBank, which issued ¥1 trillion of seven-year bonds at 4.75% in September and must refinance its $40 billion OpenAI bridge facility by March 2027. SoftBank has already said it will prioritise asset-backed financing against holdings such as Arm and OpenAI, with asset sales available if necessary. Rising yen borrowing costs make that option still more attractive. This will make SoftBank’s capacity for further AI acquisitions and investments more directly dependent on the market value of Arm and OpenAI.