TOKYO: Softbank Group Corp. said Wednesday that it will let go of some of its holdings of shares in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd.

With the move through the settlement of prepaid forward contracts, Softbank Group’s stake in Alibaba will fall from 23.7 pct as of the end of June to 14.6 pct, and the Chinese firm is expected to no longer be an equity method affiliate of SoftBank Group.

SoftBank Group said that it expects to book around 4.6 trillion yen in pretax profit from the move for July-September.

In April-June, the Japanese technology investor incurred a consolidated net loss of over 3 trillion yen, the largest quarterly loss ever reported by a listed Japanese company, battered by falls in the value of companies in which it has stakes.

Amid great uncertainty over the global stock market, the Japanese company is apparently seeking financial security.

SoftBank Group invested in Alibaba in 2000, soon after the Chinese company was established. SoftBank Group’s stake in Alibaba has helped fuel its business expansion, thanks to the Chinese firm’s rapid growth.

JIJI Press