Mubadala said to invest $15 bln in SoftBank tech fund

United Arab Emirates-based Mubadala Investment Co. is looking to invest up to $15 billion in SoftBank Group Corp.’s Vision Fund, which the Japanese lender jointly set up with Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, Bloomberg reported Sunday, citing Ibrahim Ajami, head of venture capital at Mubadala Capital.

The Vision Fund will be “wrapped up” in two to three weeks with close to $95 billion worth of commitments, he added. 

Last October, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and SoftBank signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding to set up the technology fund.

SoftBank has injected $25 billion in the new entity, while PIF will commit $45 billion over the next five years.

Mubadala will also make its investment over the next five years, Ajami said.

The Abu Dhabi-headquartered firm fully owns California-based semiconductor manufacturer Globalfoundries Inc., and holds a stake in Advanced Micro Devices Inc.

In the UAE, the fund’s investments include a holding in Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Co. (du).

Mubadala – which completed its merger with Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Co. earlier in 2017 – is also planning the establishment of two venture capital funds in June to invest in tech companies with annual revenue of $1-10 million, Ajami noted.

One of the funds will be managed by Mubadala, while the other will be managed by a third party, he said.