Moody’s Investors Service said it revised up the credit ratings firm’s outlook on SoftBank Group Corp. to stable from negative on a reduction in its leveraged debt levels as well as better transparency in its investment portfolio after the listing of chip unit Arm Holdings Plc.
The change was prompted on SoftBank’s virtual halt on new investments, along with debt reduction and increased liquidity, Moody’s said in a statement on Monday.
Thanks to Arm’s IPO in September, the share of SoftBank’s listed assets, which also includes telecom unit SoftBank Corp. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., relative to its total portfolio value has increased to over 60%, “indicating improvement in the asset quality of its investment portfolio,” it said. The value of SoftBank’s listed assets exceeded its total debt as of September, it said.
