Masayoshi Son’s investment firm reportedly plans to raise between US$500 million and US$600 million through a special-purpose acquisition company, its first use of the listing vehicle. The SPAC will be overseen by SoftBank Investment Advisers, which also runs its Vision Fund, and will be used to acquire a company in which SoftBank has not previously invested. (Axios)

Talking point: SPACs have skyrocketed in popularity in the U.S. this year, with US$81.4 billion raised through SPAC IPOs, compared to just US$13.6 billion in 2019, according to data from SPAC Research. One of SoftBank’s portfolio companies, Opendoor, was recently merged into a Chamath Palihapitiya-led SPAC, valuing the proptech firm at US$4.8 billion. Other big-name investors like Bill Ackman have also become SPAC sponsors—Ackman’s Pershing Square Tontine SPAC raised US$4 billion through its IPO in July, but has yet to identify a target acquisition. The Japanese conglomerate’s plan for a SPAC was not entirely unexpected. In October, Vision Fund head Rajeev Misra told Bloomberg that SoftBank was planning to launch a SPAC in a matter of weeks. Underwriters on SoftBank’s SPAC offering are expected to be Citibank, Deutsche Bank and Cantor Fitzgerald.