Traders were also troubled by the company’s exposure to Chinese hardware supplier Huawei, which faces allegations of a security threat from the United States. SoftBank Corp is reportedly in talks with other hardware suppliers to replace Huawei’s 4G equipment. But reaching an agreement with a new supplier is likely to take its time.
The $23.5-billion IPO was the second largest international listing after Alibaba Group (BABA), which raised $25 billion from its 2014 US listing. SoftBank issued close to 2 billion shares, which included an extra 160 million shares, which were issued due to strong investor demand. About 80% of the shares were offered to domestic retail investors.
A look at some of SoftBank’s major investments
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In a news conference on Wednesday, SoftBank CEO Ken Miyauchi said, “A lot of things happened. But we had been planning and there was no need to withdraw. I truly see a mountain of business opportunities. We would rather focus our energy on that.” He also promised shareholder returns to its investors.