SoftBank readies $100m investment in British firm that spies on staff
SoftBank is on the brink of a $100m (£77m) investment in a British start-up that develops artificial intelligence to help employers snoop on their staff.
The Japanese technology conglomerate could close the deal with London-headquartered start-up Behavox as soon as next week.
Softbank itself is preparing to borrow $4.5bn (£3.5bn) from investors as it struggles to shore up its finances following a string of soured bets.
Behavox - which mostly serves global companies such as investment bank Jefferies and miner Anglo American - supplies technology which can be used to spot illegal activity such as rogue trading and bribery.
The system allows employers to track workers' emails, text messages and calls in real-time. It forms part of the so-called "snoop-tech" industry, which is raising privacy concerns as bosses use ever more powerful tools to monitor what staff do at work.
If the investment goes ahead, it will be one of the earliest bets from SoftBank's second Vision Fund. The deal was first reported by Sky News.
The previous Vision Fund raised $100bn (£77bn) in 2016 but has since struggled to perform as SoftBank suffered a wave of setbacks.
Its biggest bet, office space start-up WeWork, came close to collapsing following a botched float and the departure of founder Adam Neumann.
Masayoshi Son has since admitted the WeWork investment was a mistake. He threw the company a $9.5bn lifeline in October in return for an 80pc controlling stake.
SoftBank last week revealed that profits plunged 99pc in the three months to December compared to a year earlier. There was $2bn loss at the first Vision Fund, which is led by former Deutsche banker Rajeev Misra.
The second fund started to make investments in October following a $38bn cash injection from SoftBank itself, but is yet to secure support from any external backers.
It comes as SoftBank prepares to borrow $4.5bn from as many as 16 finance firms, putting shares from its telecoms business up as collateral.
Almost a third of its shares in SoftBank Corp, the telecoms unit, could be used as security in a two-year loan handed over by domestic and overseas investors, the company said on Wednesday.
The loan announcement follows demands for change by feared US hedge fund Elliott Management, which has amassed a near-$3bn stake in SoftBank and is seeking a $20bn share buyback.
Masayoshi Son, the billionaire founder of SoftBank who made an early fortune after taking a stake in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, has long claimed that shares are undervalued.
SoftBank’s 26pc stake in Alibaba is now worth $101bn and rivals the entire valuation of SoftBank itself.
