Masayoshi Son-led SoftBank is planning to sell its majority stake in SBG Cleantech, its high-profile renewables joint venture in India, as per a report by the Economic Times. The move has been seen as part of SoftBank’s ongoing review of businesses around the world to increase liquidity. Reports even suggest that SoftBank has invested close to $500-600 million in the Indian JV so far.
SoftBank, the Japanese technology and investment giant has held talks with sovereign wealth and pension funds from the Far East and Gulf regions, besides some Silicon Valley technology giants that are buyers of clean energy.
“As part of business strategy, we review all options to raise external capital, including strategic investments, from time to time. There is absolutely no plan to exit from the business,.” Raman Nanda, CEO, SB Energy said in a statement to ET.
However, sources that are directly involved in the negotiations have added that besides the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), Singapore’s GIC, Canadian pension funds such as CPPIB and CDPQ, sovereign funds such as Abu Dhabi-owned Mubadala are also exploring the India cleantech space.
SBG Cleantech Projectco Private Limited provides solar energy generation services. The Company serves customers in India. It is a joint venture between SoftBank, Bharti Enterprises and Foxconn — SoftBank has close to 70% stake in the JV, followed by 20% for Foxconn and 10% for Bharti. The company was launched in 2015.
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