According to a Financial Times report on Wednesday, Elliott Management Corporation has re-established its stake in SoftBank Group worth over $2 billion and urged the Japanese tech investment company to initiate a $15 billion share buyback plan.
The report states that the activist investor has directly engaged with SoftBank's top executives over the past two to three months, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Elliott believes the share buyback would immediately enhance the stock price and demonstrate SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son's confidence in his strategy, the Financial Times reported.
In 2020, Elliott had built a $3 billion stake in SoftBank, pushing for a $20 billion share buyback. According to the Financial Times, after SoftBank announced a plan to buy back approximately 15% of its shares for about 1 trillion yen ($6.42 billion), Elliott sold its stake in 2022.
Elliott's stake in SoftBank is part of its broader strategy of purchasing shares in other Japanese companies, such as Toshiba Corporation, Sumitomo Corporation, and Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd.
SoftBank declined to comment on the Financial Times report. Elliott did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.
SoftBank's stock price has risen to over 9,500 yen, the highest level in three years.
