SoftBank to sell US cellphone distributor Brightstar in latest asset sale

TOKYO (Reuters) – SoftBank Group Corp said on Friday it would sell U.S. cellphone distributor Brightstar Global Group for an undisclosed price, marking the latest asset sale by the Japanese conglomerate to fund a record stock buyback and raise cash.

SoftBank said in a statement it would sell the firm to a newly formed subsidiary of private equity firm Brightstar Capital Partners for cash as well as a 25% stake in the subsidiary. Brightstar Capital is not an affiliate of Brightstar Global, the statement said.

The move comes on the heels of an announcement in late August it was cutting its stake in wireless unit SoftBank Corp, followed by news this week it was selling chip designer Arm to Nvidia Corp.