LONDON: SoftBank Group Corp. has moved to sell almost all of its remaining shares in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., the Financial Times reported in its online edition Wednesday.

The Japanese technology conglomerate took the action as it needs to strengthen its balance sheet amid sluggish performance of group investment funds.

SoftBank has sold Alibaba shares worth about 7.2 billion dollars this year through prepaid forward contracts after sales worth 29 billion dollars last year, according to the British paper, which analyzed SoftBank regulatory filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

SoftBank once owned a 34 percent stake in Alibaba, but the forward sales will eventually reduce its shareholding to 3.8 percent, the business daily said.

The Chinese government’s crackdown on tech companies from autumn 2020 has cut the value of Alibaba shares by 70 percent, according to the Financial Times.

JIJI Press