back to article Japan's SoftBank teams up with... Saudi Arabia to launch $100bn London tech fund

SoftBank and Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund are preparing to launch a technology investment fund, to be based in London, which will invest as much as $100bn into the global tech sector. Tentatively dubbed the SoftBank Vision Fund, the investment vehicle will operate over the next five years and will be seeded with $25bn …

  1. J. R. Hartley

    Call me cynical.

    Invest/rape

  2. Spacedinvader
    Thumb Up

    Subtitle

    Brilliant!

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Meh

    Why not....

    ..the Saudis / Qatar own half of London anyway.

    1. phuzz Silver badge

      Re: Why not....

      Saudi Arabia and Qatar are separate countries, that's like lumping together Britain and the Republic of Ireland.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Curious

    So, on the one hand the Japanese are mewling pathetically that Brexit is harmful to them and they're threatening to move their regional administration offices out of the UK, yet at the same time to invest billions globally from a new and specifically London based fund?

    Yo! Japanese! What's so magical about London if you're fully subscribed to the sackcloth and ashes narrative of the Remainderers?

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Softbank

    they are just buying foreign stuff with their leftover cash as the

    http://www.global-rates.com/interest-rates/libor/japanese-yen/jpy-libor-interest-rate-overnight.aspx

    overnight cash deposit rates in Tokyo are all minus (around -0.02 to -0.2%)

    I'd personally buy stuff like ARM if the alternative was to lose money in the bank

    (it might be much more complicated than this, IANACO/I am not a casino operator)

  6. John Mangan

    @Curious

    Without the unnecessarily derogatory tone towards those who don't think Brexit is a good idea I also find this curious. We have an article on the Reg today bemoaning how badly tech in this country is being affected already by the negative sentiment 'foreigners' feel is coming from the UK and now an investment vehicle specifically for tech.

    It doesn't say whether the investments will be specifically targeted within the UK but if not then I would be wondering why they have chosen London as the base.

    Can anyone shed light?

    1. maffski

      Re: @Curious

      London is still the centre for globalised finance - if that changes 5 years down the line they can always move.

      But part of the reason London is the centre is the legal system - it's seen as relatively fair, transparent and efficient - somewhere everyone can agree on for contracts between international entities.

    2. Dr_N

      Re: @Curious

      'which will invest as much as $100bn into the global tech sector.'

      I guess it's just a fund based in London, for now.

  7. Jess

    Buy up intellectual properpty cheaply for the next two years.

    While the pound is weak, due to to worry about leaving the EEA. Then shift it elsewhere (Eire perhaps) at the last moment if we leave the EEA.

  8. Wiltshire

    Don't worry, the Brit finance natives are (h)ARMless. They'll sell their own grandmother. Nothing is being "invested" except for invented money. Don't forget, the money doesn't exist until it's borrowed. Out of nothing, we now own the Brit's technological crown jewels. Bwahahahaha.

  9. oldcoder

    Just another way to suck money out of Britain, that is all.

    The "investments" can be used to buy local companies, then move everything out.

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