Amid the well-documented number of financial services firms contemplating moving their operations out of the UK and into European cities such as Paris post-Brexit , SoftBank Group has bucked the trend and decided to place the headquarters of its $100 billion technology private equity group in London, providing the UK's capital with a vote of confidence. The company has also started hiring investment advisers, according to a Bloomberg report today.
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The SoftBank Vision Fund has opened offices in West London’s upmarket Mayfair with offices that are surrounded by luxury art galleries and which are just a stone’s-throw away from the city’s flagship designer fashion stores and Buckingham Palace.
The tech fund giant has hired 10 staff for its London office and there are reports that it may hire several dozen more. "London is set to be the global Hub for the Vision Fund", according to sources cited by Bloomberg.
New Appointments
Jonathan Bullock, chief operations officer of SoftBank International, and Alok Sama, SoftBank’s chief financial officer, have been appointed senior advisers to the fund, and will be based in London.
Rajeev Misra, head of strategic finance at SoftBank, has already been announced as leading the fund, with former Deutsche Bank senior executive Nizar Al-Bassam and Goldman Sachs partner Dalinc Ariburnu joining as advisers.
SoftBank is renting the space from an undisclosed private investor, who took out a 125-year lease on 69 Grosvenor Street for $44.3 million in March.
The investment vehicle, a joint venture with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, is reportedly looking to raise the remaining $30 billion to meet its $100 billion target.
