SoftBank said on Friday it was selling a further $1.1 billion of its shares in Alibaba, bringing the total it has sold in the Chinese e-commerce company to $10 billion.
SoftBank on Wednesday said it would sell at least $7.9 billion of shares in Alibaba, marking the first sale of shares in the Chinese company since SoftBank began investing in it in 2000. The two companies said they would maintain a strategic partnership.
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The Japanese company said it was exercising a greenshoe option to sell more shares in Alibaba, in which it is the top shareholder. Softbank, which invests in telecoms and internet companies, sold more shares because of strong demand, a spokesman said.
The sale is expected to help to reduce debt at Alibaba (BABA), which holds a majority stake in U.S. wireless carrier Sprint. Sprint (S) is loss-making and has embarked on a cost-cutting drive.
Singapore state funds bought $1 billion of Alibaba shares in part of the SoftBank sale, Alibaba said on Wednesday.
