Battered SoftBank selling Alibaba shares to pocket $34 billion

Masayoshi Son-led SoftBank Group revealed plans to sell nearly 242 million American depository receipts (ADRs) of Chinese behemoth Alibaba, that will help it gain 4.6 trillion yen ($34 billion) in pre-tax gain from the sale.
The Japanese giant, which saw massive losses in billions of dollars in the past two quarters this year, said that sale will trim its stake in Alibaba to 14.6%, a decrease from 23.7% at the end of June.
“The current equity market environment is challenging and may be prolonged. Considering the said market environment, “SBG (SoftBank Group Corp) has determined that the best option at this time is to settle these prepaid forward contracts in physical form,” said the company, adding that this “will further strengthen our defense against the severe market environment”.