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SoftBank launches over $11 billion junk-bond sale to fund next OpenAI payment

September 21, 2026 at 13:53 EDT

Funding & M&A
Finance

SoftBank Group on Monday launched a high-yield bond sale of more than $11 billion to fund the next installment of its investment in OpenAI, a transaction that would rank among the largest junk-bond offerings ever by a single company. The group is marketing $10 billion of senior unsecured dollar notes and €1 billion (about $1.1 billion) of euro notes, with the proceeds aimed in part at a $10 billion payment scheduled for October 1.

September 21, 2026 · SoftBank Group

Junk bonds of more than $11 billion for the next OpenAI check

SoftBank is marketing $10 billion of dollar notes and about $1.1 billion of euro notes to fund a $10 billion OpenAI payment due October 1. At that size it would rank among the largest junk-bond sales ever by one company.

>$11bn

High-yield notes being marketed

$10bn

Third OpenAI tranche, due Oct. 1

$64.6bn

Cumulative OpenAI investment if completed

BB+

S&P rating, top rung of junk

Deal structure, same dollar scale

Dollar notes tower over the euro tranche

Ten stacked blocks for the $10 billion dollar sale. One block for the euro notes, about $1.1 billion. Column height is the amount.

$10bn

Dollar notes

$1.1bn

Euro notes

At the planned size the sale would pass 7-Eleven’s $10.93 billion from January 2021, the record for a non-financial corporate bond from Asia-Pacific and Japan. SoftBank has already sold almost $15 billion of notes this year.

Borrowing cost

The 2031 dollar yield is higher than in January

Column height tracks the yield. 6.7 percent in January, 8.2 percent earlier this month.

6.7%

January low

8.2%

This month

The cost of insuring SoftBank debt against default is at a three-year high, and coupons on the new notes are not set.

From bridge to closing

Short-term debt out, October payment still due

1 · Bridge loan →

A $10 billion facility the notes are meant to cancel

2 · Price Sept. 24 →

Coupons still unpublished

3 · Settle Sept. 29 →

Cash in two days before the deadline

4 · OpenAI Oct. 1

Final $10 billion tranche of the follow-on

What the structure does

Two $10 billion closings are already done. This sale lengthens a signed third payment out as far as 7.5 years. The group’s own rule is loan-to-value under 25 percent in normal markets, with cash for two years of bond redemptions.

What buyers are weighing

The debt is rated BB+. OpenAI is not expected to list this year, so the stake stays private. A lower valuation hits earnings, while the coupons are still owed. Some see a speculative equity bet funded in the junk market.

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