SoftBank Vision Fund hires new head for Mideast unit: report

Japanese SoftBank Group Corp. is hiring Faisal Rahman, former executive at Deutsche Bank AG, to head its Middle East division, which manages Softbank Vision Fund, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter.

In the new role at SoftBank Investment Advisors, Rahman will help manage relations with the Vision Fund’s two key backers — Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and Abu Dhabi's wealth fund Mubadala Investment Co.

Rahman will also help the fund set up branches for its portfolio companies in the region, the sources said.

Rahman, who was co-head of corporate and investment banking for Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa at Deutsche Bank, has almost 18 years. He served as a managing director in 2012.

In October 2016, the Kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund and SoftBank signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding to set up the technology fund, Argaam reported.

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