SEOUL, August 26 (AJP) - SoftBank, the Japanese technology investment giant, has unloaded nearly $1.65 billion worth of shares in Coupang, South Korea’s largest e-commerce platform, as it continues to pare back its holdings in the company.
According to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, SoftBank sold 20 million Coupang shares on Aug. 20 at the New York Stock Exchange, raising about $576.8 million.
The sale followed two earlier transactions this year: 30 million shares on May 8 for $798 million and 10 million shares on June 13 for $283.1 million. In total, the group has disposed of 60 million shares since May, a sell-off valued at roughly 2.3 trillion won.
The moves mark a continued retreat by SoftBank from one of its most high-profile investments. The Tokyo-based group held 32.4 percent of Coupang at the end of 2021 but has cut that stake to 17.39 percent as of August.
Industry analysts say the divestments appear aimed at freeing up capital for SoftBank’s ambitions in artificial intelligence. The company is a partner in what it has described as the $500 billion “Stargate Project,” a plan with OpenAI and Oracle to build large-scale AI data centers in the United States.
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