SoftBank clashes again with Moody's over credit rating

[TOKYO] SoftBank Group criticised Moody's again over its credit-rating practices, escalating a conflict between one of Japan's heaviest borrowers and one of the leading authorities on corporate debt.

The Tokyo-based company said on Friday it had not sought ratings from Moody's and a report from the firm this week is "based on their subjective assumptions and hypotheses with no reasonable basis for support". Instead, the company pointed investors to rival firms, S&P Global Ratings and Japan Credit Rating Agency.

The clash between SoftBank and Moody's dates back to March of last year, as the company run by billionaire Masayoshi Son was struggling to make its way through the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. Moody's downgraded the company two notches after it announced plans to buy back as much as two trillion yen (S$25.52 billion) of its own stock and cautioned it could cut further.

SoftBank blasted the firm in response and accused it of "bias" that would create "substantial misunderstanding". SoftBank said on Friday that it has provided "no information" to Moody's since it withdrew its request for a rating in March 2020.

Moody's didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

SoftBank's share price has surged since the dark days of the pandemic, rising about 150 per cent since that clash. Its bonds also rebounded sharply last year.

The Japanese technology conglomerate is preparing to sell about 100 billion yen of hybrid bonds this month, which would be the first note issuance for the group entity in more than a year.

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