> He's taking advantage of the weak GBP thanks to the whole Brexit fiasco.
More likely: SoftBank Group is taking advantage of its ability to issue debt at historically low interest rates, thanks to the monetary policy of the Bank of Japan.
That being said, SoftBank purchased ARM using GBP (I assume), so they would need a way to convert their cheaply acquired JPY to GBP. I wonder if they are able to purchase foreign companies for JPY at, say, a 10% markup. The sellers would be able to sell this JPY on the market as soon as they receive it, and SoftCorp would be left with a brand new company in its portfolio and some JPY liabilities (they are issuing unsecured, subordinated (5-year?) JPY bonds at 2.5% p.a.: http://www.softbank.jp/en/corp/irinfo/stock/bond/).
SoftBank's net-debt-to-equity ratio has risen from 0.6 to 3.5 from FY2011 to 2015: http://www.softbank.jp/en/corp/irinfo/financials/results/hig....
That being said, SoftBank purchased ARM using GBP (I assume), so they would need a way to convert their cheaply acquired JPY to GBP. I wonder if they are able to purchase foreign companies for JPY at, say, a 10% markup. The sellers would be able to sell this JPY on the market as soon as they receive it, and SoftCorp would be left with a brand new company in its portfolio and some JPY liabilities (they are issuing unsecured, subordinated (5-year?) JPY bonds at 2.5% p.a.: http://www.softbank.jp/en/corp/irinfo/stock/bond/).