SoftBank was planning to sell its entire 80% stake in SB Energy, in the joint venture to Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) for an estimated $525 million.
The Japanese technology and telecoms conglomerate have terminated its agreement after disagreements over valuation, terms and conditions of the shareholder agreement (SHA) and governance rights.
SB Energy is focused on solar energy, which takes a shorter time from construction to application compared to other renewable energy sources. It takes advantage of the Feed-in Tariff scheme (FIT) and build up the Mega Solar business. Capitalize on SoftBank Group’s synergy, SB Energy serves as a hub for all stakeholders and manage the entire process from planning and construction to management after operation start.
The plan, for now at least, is to continue running the business together with its original JV partner Bharti Enterprises. The operating team members of SB Energy were informed of these developments earlier on Thursday morning.
“After consulting with Sunil Mittal, Board Director, Masayoshi Son finally informed the Softbank team this week to move on from any distractions and run the business at least temporarily. Accordingly, the negotiations that were just dragging finally got called off over Tuesday and Wednesday,” said an official involved on condition of anonymity as the developments are still in private domain.
SoftBank and OneWeb, recently announced an agreement for mutual cooperation to promote OneWeb’s satellite communication services in the global and Japan markets. SoftBank and OneWeb will promote satellite communication services via the combination of OneWeb services and SoftBank’s services, including advanced communication and Digital Transformation (DX) platform services.
“We continue to look for opportunities for new investments in India, including in the renewables sector, as part of our Sustainable Energy Group strategy,” a CPPIB global spokesperson told ET. CPP Investments is a major investor in India with C$12 billion invested to date and the country is core to our global, long-term investment strategy.
