SoftBank Group is in discussions with potential investors in Canada and the Middle East to raise $7 billion of additional capital for its technology fund, according to people familiar with the matter.
The telecoms and internet company is in talks with Canadian pension funds, sovereign wealth funds in Kuwait and Qatar and technology companies, the people said, asking not to be identified as the discussions are ongoing. The new commitments would take the total pool to $100 billion, though there's no guarantee that the parties will reach an agreement, they said.
The Vision Fund will charge a performance fee of 20 percent and a management fee of 0.5 percent to 1 percent, the people said. That compares with private equity firms, which typically charge 2 percent of the assets they oversee, plus 20 percent of profits. SoftBank plans to hire about 50 people this year to help manage its investments, the people said.
Representatives for SoftBank and the Kuwaiti and Qatari wealth funds declined to comment.
SoftBank and Saudi Arabia formally announced the first round of capital commitments for the largest-ever technology investment fund last month, giving the company's founder, Masayoshi Son, the firepower to accelerate investments in cutting-edge technologies and startups. Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Investment, Apple, Qualcomm, Foxconn Technology Group and Sharp are also investing.
Son, who has vowed to become the biggest investor in the technology industry over the next decade, has already started making good on that promise. In May, SoftBank invested $5 billion in Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing and put $1.4 billion into digital payments startup Paytm, the largest-ever funding round from a single investor in India's technology sector.
SoftBank also quietly amassed a $4 billion stake in Nvidia making it the fourth-largest shareholder in the graphics chipmaker, people familiar with the matter have said.