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Market Chatter: SoftBank Group Advances to Second Round of Bidding in Blackstone Payments Service Provider Sale

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SoftBank Group's (TYO:9984) telecom unit SoftBank Corp. has been shortlisted for a potential bid on Blackstone's payments services provider SP.LINKS Inc., Bloomberg reported Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The group, which will compete against an unnamed private equity fund, has until mid-July to place a bid, with the sellers seeking a price tag of 100 billion yen, the report said.

Blackstone owns 80% o the business, with the remaining held by a unit of Sony Financial Group (TYO:8729).

(Market Chatter news is derived from conversations with market professionals globally. This information is believed to be from reliable sources but may include rumor and speculation. Accuracy is not guaranteed.)

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