The Japanese financial conglomerate Softbank is looking to sell Fortress Investment Group after acquiring the asset management firm four years ago. According to Bloomberg, the negotiation to sell Fortress is in its early stages. It is a private matter, so there is not much public information. Representatives from Softbank and Fortress Investment Group declined to comment on this situation. However, people with knowledge of this matter said Softbank had difficulties incorporating Fortress’s operations with its own.
Softbank purchased Fortress Investment Group in 2017 for over $3 billion. Their goal was to use the New York firm’s investment expertise to manage its upcoming Vision Fund. In 2017, Chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son expected Fortress to provide the Vision Fund with bold and disciplined investment strategies for long-term growth. Unfortunately, Softbank could not purchase Fortress Investment Group unless it allowed the New York firm to run independently. As a result, Softbank has recently been shedding many of its non-core holdings. These holdings include Boston Dynamics Inc., Brightstar Corp., Arm Ltd., and T-Mobile US Inc.
Fortress Investment Group founders Peter Briger, Randall Nardone, and Wes Edens began the firm’s operations on January 1, 1998, as a highly diversified private equity company. Fortress manages over $40 billion in assets, hedge funds, and credit funds. Some of the companies in their portfolio include AirCastle Limited, Boxclever Capstead Mortgage Corporation, CW Financial Services, Nationstar Mortgage LLC, and Springleaf Financial. In February 2007, Fortress became the first private equity firm to go public and be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Go Here for related Information.