SoftBank Group ended speculation around the future of its T-Mobile US holding, detailing a move to offload a stake in the operator as part of fundraising efforts to tackle its massive debt.

In a statement today (16 June), SoftBank said it is in talks with Deutsche Telekom and T-Mobile, but noted there is no assurance a deal will be finalised.

Any sale may include private placements or public offerings; transactions with stockholders of T-Mobile, including Deutsche Telekom or third parties; derivative or hedging transactions; margin loans; or other structured transactions, it stated.

Last month, Bloomberg reported SoftBank was considering selling $20 billion-worth of its holdings in the operator: it has a 25 per cent stake in T-Mobile following the US company’s merger with Sprint.

In March, SoftBank outlined plans to sell JPY4.5 trillion ($41.9 billion) in assets to reduce debt and buy-back JPY2 trillion worth of shares, after reporting a record net loss of JPY961.6 billion in the year to end-March.

It approved a sale of 240 million shares of its domestic mobile operator valued at JPY310 billion as part of the plan in May.