SoftBank plans to invest up to $25 billion in Saudi Arabia: Bloomberg

Reuters
The logo of SoftBank Group Corp is displayed at SoftBank World 2017 conference in Tokyo, Japan, July 20, 2017. REUTERS/Issei Kato

(Reuters) - Japan's SoftBank Group Corp <9984.T> plans to invest as much as $25 billion in Saudi Arabia over the next three to four years, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Softbank plans to deploy around $15 billion in a new business and industrial city called NEOM and its Vision Fund would invest around $10 billion in state-controlled Saudi Electricity Co <5110.SE>, Bloomberg reported.

The $500-billion mega-city will be floated on financial markets alongside oil giant Saudi Aramco as part of the kingdom's drive to diversify away from oil, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had told Reuters in an interview in October.

Reuters had also reported that Saudi Arabia will consider selling a large stake in Saudi Electricity to Vision Fund, the world's largest private equity fund.

SoftBank Group was not immediately available for comment outside regular business hours.

(Reporting by Shubham Kalia in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)