Status:  Clearance

Acquirer:  SoftBank Group Corp. (Japan)

Acquired:  Fortress Investment Group (US)

Value:  US$3.3 billion

Industry:  Financial Services

UPDATE: On December 28, 2017, SoftBank Group Corp. announced it completed the acquisition of Fortress Investment Group LLC, noting that “[t]he completion follows the satisfaction of all conditions to the closing of the transaction . . . and receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals.”  (SoftBank Group Corp., SoftBank Group Completes Acquisition of Fortress Investment Group, Dec. 28, 2017.)  The “filing of the CFIUS Notice and the receipt of the CFIUS Clearance,” as well as a 60-day notification to the State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Control under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), were both conditions to the transaction.  (Fortress Investment Group LLC, Schedule 14A, May 22, 2017, SEC Filing.)

Posted on February 17, 2017

Status: Upcoming/New Filing

On February 14, 2017, Fortress Investment Group LLC, a U.S. based investment firm with over US$70 billion in assets under management, announced that it has entered into a merger agreement with SoftBank Group Corp., a Japanese company that operates a global portfolio of companies in the technology sector, “under which SoftBank will acquire Fortress for approximately $3.3 billion in cash.”  (Fortress Investment Group Press Release, SoftBank Group to Acquire Fortress Investment Group for $3.3 Billion, Feb. 14, 2017.)  The merger agreement is conditioned on obtaining Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) clearance of the transaction.  (See Sections 5.4(h), 7.5(iii), Agreement and Plan of Merger, Ex-2.1, Form 8-K, Feb. 15, 2017, SEC Filing.)