SoftBank reassured Wall Street on Monday with its plan to sell off $41 billion worth of assets, in its biggest-ever plan to buy back shares.

But a new report from the Financial Times' Arash Massoudi and Anjli Raval suggests that SoftBank had an even more drastic plan in place, as it held talks to take the company private with activist investor Elliot Management and Abu Dhabi's sovereign fund Mubadala.

The plan was ultimately scrapped due to the complexities of getting investors together quickly enough for such a large deal, and the listing rules in Tokyo, where it is based, the Financial Times reported.

A SoftBank spokesperson declined to comment for this story.

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At the beginning of this week, Japanese investment giant SoftBank announced a plan to execute its largest-ever share buyback of company stock through selling off $41 billion of its key assets. That plan was apparently well-received, with shares shooting up 19% on Monday.

But a new report from Financial Times reporters Arash Massoudi and Anjli Raval shows that the pressure to manage all the turbulence was enough to make SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son consider taking the company private.

Son reportedly held talks to explore a leveraged buyout with investors including Abu Dhabi's sovereign fund Mubadala and Elliot Management, the activist hedge fund that recently acquired a stake in SoftBank. He began thinking of such a drastic measure after an Elliot Management executive in the London office expressed interest in buying more SoftBank shares as its stock price plunged, the FT reported.

The plan was ultimately scrapped due to difficulties of getting investors together quickly enough to execute such a complex deal, listing rules in Tokyo, and tax considerations, the Financial Times reported.

A SoftBank spokesperson declined to comment on the reports. But the fact that a leveraged buyout of the company was even considered illustrates the extent to which SoftBank's struggles on the global market have rattled both the company's leaders and investors.

As the coronavirus outbreak has destroyed swathes of the global economy, the public market has been hit hard. But SoftBank seems to have suffered especially, in the wake of the failed IPO and bailout of embattled company WeWork.

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