SoftBank to get government-backed bank loans

Japanese mobile carrier SoftBank will receive loans worth $3 billion from government-affiliated banks as it takes advantage of a drive to boost international acquisitions and investment, a report said Thursday. The news comes two months after Softbank completed the $21.6 billion buy-out of US carrier Sprint Nextel, the biggest overseas acquisition ever by a Japanese firm. Japan Bank for International Cooperation and Development Bank of Japan will offer the 300 billion yen-worth of loans, the Nikkei business daily said Thursday, without citing sources. ome industry experts have cast doubt on the wisdom of the Sprint deal, which piles further debt on already heavily indebted SoftBank, while ratings agency Moody's downgraded the firm to junk status citing worries over its financial position. But SoftBank President Masayoshi Son has argued that banks' willingness to loan him money was evidence of his business acumen. The Nikkei said the expected loans from will be part of a whopping two-trillion-yen syndicated loan that SoftBank is planning to announce later this month. Muzuho Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp, among other major international banks, are also expected to participate in the loan, the Nikkei said. SoftBank will use the money mainly for refinancing, the influential daily said. The mobile company and the banks declined to comment on the report.