SoftBank sells 85% stake in SB Energy to Toyota Tsusho

SB Energy in green hydrogen business

SoftBank Group Corporation has decided to sell 85 percent stake in SB Energy to Toyota Tsusho Corporation.

SB Energy will become a subsidiary of Toyota Tsusho with 85 percent stock and an affiliate of SBG with 15 percent stock.

SoftBank Group established SB Energy in October 2011, and has since constructed and operated a total of 773.0MW in Japan (as of January 2023), including 667.1MW of solar power and 55.9MW of wind power, as well as abroad, including 50MW of wind power in the Gobi Desert, Mongolia.

SoftBank Group is engaged in renewable electricity generation in the United States through SB Energy Global and is investing in technologies concerning renewable energy through funds within the SoftBank Group.

Ichiro Kashitani, President & CEO, Toyota Tsusho said: “SB Energy’s expertise in advanced efforts will provide us the opportunity to further promote our Carbon Neutrality efforts in an unparalleled way.”

SoftBank earlier said its Vision Fund reported an investment loss of 730.36 billion yen ($5.52 billion) in the October-December quarter.

SoftBank said the Vision Fund unit had significantly curtailed new investments and was continuing to sell some older ones as part of prudent defensive financial management amid the challenging market environment.

Vision Fund’s investment loss of 730 billion yen in the October-December quarter was down from a loss of 1.38 trillion yen in the previous quarter.

Toyota Tsusho and SBG will explore collaborative efforts among their group companies in the renewable energy businesses, aiming toward achieving Carbon Neutrality.

Toyota Tsusho has been actively expanding its renewable energy businesses in Japan and beyond, primarily through its subsidiary Eurus Energy Holdings Corporation, the largest wind power generator in Japan.

Eurus Energy owns a renewable energy generation capacity of approximately 3,701MW (as of December 2022), including 3,055MW of wind power and 350MW of solar power, and is engaged in new business capitalizing on existing renewable energy businesses, including energy management projects and virtual power plant demonstration projects.

In July 2021, Toyota Tsusho Group announced its goal of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 50 percent from the 2019 level by 2030 and achieving Carbon Neutrality by 2050. In November 2021, it laid out its Carbon Neutral Roadmap 2030 as part of its expansion of businesses that contribute to GHG reduction throughout the industrial life cycle.