SoftBank to gain $34 bln from cutting Alibaba stake

TOKYO: SoftBank Group Corp said on Wednesday it would book a gain of $34.1 billion by cutting its stake in Alibaba Group Holding, as the investment behemoth looks to shore up its cash reserve to weather the market downturn.

SoftBank will reduce its stake in Alibaba to 14.6% from 23.7% by settling prepaid forward contracts. Alibaba’s U.S.-listed shares were down 1.7% in premarket trade after the announcement.