By John Oates, 27 September 2001 08:49
NEWS Japanese venture capital fund Softbank is voluntarily giving money back to corporate investors. Softbank Europe is handing back between £137m and £171m to investors that say they need the cash back to fund their core businesses. David Sola, managing director of Softbank Europe, told the Financial Times he agreed to pay the money back rather than refuse and deal with lengthy legal action. Softbank is closing its offices in Munich and Paris and is cutting back staff from 14 to eight. The news is a continued retreat from Softbank's peak, when its investment in Yahoo Japan was worth a staggering $1m per share and its joint venture with Rupert Murdoch invested over $1bn in European businesses.
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