Purchased through SB Management, SoftBank's stake equates to 6,400,000 shares, with some purchased from existing shareholders and “several co-founders”.
The investment followed a near 300% stock price surge this year for Sinch, which it said validates its market strategy. Headed by CEO Oscar Werner (pictured), this year the company has completed four acquisitions: SAP Digital Interconnect for £198m; Wavy for £98; Chatlayer for £4m; and India's ACL mobile for £56m.
Commenting on the new deal with SB Management, Sinch said a “large number” of Swedish and international institutional investors participated in the latest share Issue. Confirming the news late on Monday, Sinch said it had issued 3,187,736 shares, raising approx. SEK 3.3 billion ($386 million). The proceeds will be reinvested in new acquisitions.
In a statement, the company added: “A fund managed by SB Management, a 100% owned direct subsidiary of SoftBank Group Corp, has, in accordance with its previous commitment, subscribed for 1,200,000 shares in the issue.
“In connection with the issue, and due to strong demand, certain larger shareholders, including several co-founders, have sold 5,200,000 existing shares in the Company to SB Management, meaning that SB Management will hold in total 6,400,000 shares, corresponding to approximately 10.1% of the shares and votes in the Company following the Share Issue and the Sell-down. The Company will not receive any proceeds from the Sell-down,” the statement continued.
