SoftBank Investment Advisers exploring structured credit fund – source

(Reuters) – SoftBank Investment Advisers, which manages Vision Fund, is exploring starting a structured credit fund seeking mid-teens return to give tech startups more liquidity options, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The development was first reported by Bloomberg News earlier on Monday.

SoftBank declined to comment on the news.

In recent weeks, several major investment and private-equity firms have stepped in to fill the chasm created in tech investing by the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in March.

Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp, a premier investor in high-growth technology firms, will be able to tap the rapidly growing private credit market with the move as multi-billion deals are increasingly funded through debt.

Earlier this month, the company posted a sharply narrower annual loss after a capital raise using its stake in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd helped cushion investment loss at its Vision Fund investing arm.

(Reporting by Krystal Hu in New York and Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)

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