SoftBank launches one of biggest junk bond deals to fund OpenAI bet

SoftBank is marketing more than $11bn of high-yield bonds ($10bn + €1bn) — potentially one of the largest junk deals ever — to fund the third tranche of its OpenAI investment due to close next month, with pricing expected Thursday. Dollar tenors ~3.5–7.5 years are discussed at ~9–10% yields; early orders exceeded $8bn before Monday’s official launch after CFO Yoshimitsu Goto met investors at Citi NY. Context: SoftBank earlier arranged up to $40bn bridge loans (incl. Mizuho) for three OpenAI instalments (Apr/Jul/Oct); it said it would repay the $25.9bn outstanding on Sep 15 and refinance with longer debt, cancelling remaining ~$10bn bridge capacity alongside the October tranche. The group aims to keep LTV <25% in normal times but has told the FT that guardrail could be breached temporarily. The HY push comes as Big Tech has flooded IG credit markets this year and as OpenAI’s ~$280bn projected cash burn to 2030 (per prior FT) plus Nvidia/Oracle/SoftBank data-centre interdependence keep funding critical — including SoftBank/OpenAI’s January plan to invest $1bn in SB Energy. Bookrunners include Citi, Goldman, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley.