软银集团将回购其多达7%的股份

软银集团周五表示，将以高达5000亿日元(48亿美元)的价格回购7%的股份。此前，激进投资者埃利奥特管理公司要求软银回购200亿美元的股份。

软银的一名女发言人表示，考虑到目前的股市波动可能会增加软银股票相对于其持股价值的大幅折价，公司决定自行回购股票。

该发言人说，此次回购没有新的融资计划。

该公司上月表示，计划从16家国内外金融机构借款至多5,000亿日圆，以部分所持电信公司软库(SoftBank Corp.)的股份为抵押，增加手头现金。

埃利奥特是世界上最具影响力的维权投资者之一，他持有软银近30亿美元的股份，并在回购和提高透明度等一系列问题上向软银施压。

由于担心冠状病毒爆发对经济的影响，东京股市暴跌，软银股价在下午的交易中下跌了近8%。

SoftBank Group Corp. said on Friday it will buy back up to 7 percent of its own shares for as much as 500 billion yen (US$4.8 billion), a decision that comes after activist investor Elliott Management pressed for US$20 billion in stock buybacks.

A SoftBank spokeswoman said the company had decided to conduct the buyback of its own accord after considering the risk that current stock market volatility could increase the deep discount that SoftBank’s stock has relative to the value of its holdings.

No fresh financing is planned for the buyback, the spokeswoman said.

The company said last month it plans to borrow up to 500 billion yen from 16 domestic and foreign financial institutions using part of its stake in telecommunications firm SoftBank Corp. as collateral to boost its cash on hand.

Elliott, one of the world’s most powerful activist investors, has amassed a holding of almost US$3 billion in SoftBank and has pressured SoftBank on a range of issues, including buybacks and improving transparency.

SoftBank’s shares were down nearly 8 percent in afternoon trade as the Tokyo market slumped on concern about the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak.