SoftBank to write down minimum $5 billion for WeWork, other losses

SoftBank Group Corp <9984.T> is poised to write down at least $5 billion to account for a sharp drop in the value of some of its biggest holdings including WeWork and Uber Technologies Inc , Bloomberg reported. Citing people with knowledge of the matter, Bloomberg said SoftBank, which runs the $100 billion Vision Fund, would announce the writedown along with its second-quarter earnings on Nov. 6. A SoftBank spokesman declined to comment on the report.

Shares in SoftBank fell as much as 2.7% in Tokyo morning trade SoftBank this week agreed to spend more than $10 billion to take over WeWork, doubling down on an ill-fated investment in the U.S. office-space sharing startup. Moody`s analyst Motoki Yanase said the $5 billion dollar writedown would have a "relatively small" effect on SoftBank`s investment portfolio, which stood at about $240 billion as of June.

Moody`s affirmed SoftBank Group`s credit rating at Ba1 on Wednesday, one notch below investment grade. But Yanase added that the possibility that WeWork`s situation could deteriorate further could not be ruled out. "SoftBank may need to mobilize more debt to rescue the company," he said.

WeWork abandoned its initial public offering last month, after investors questioned its large losses, the sustainability of its business model and the way it was being run. As part of SoftBank`s bailout, WeWork co-founder Adam Neumann agreed to relinquish control of the company in exchange for a $1.7 billion payoff.