Comment on Moody’s Report Related to Unsolicited Rating

Moody’s Japan K.K. (“Moody’s”) issued a report regarding SoftBank Group Corp. (“SBG”) on February 29, 2024. It is critical to clarify that SBG has not obtained a credit rating from Moody’s.

Since withdrawing our request for a rating on March 25, 2020, SBG has neither provided any information to Moody’s regarding their rating, nor has received any requests for information or inquiries from the company for nearly four years. Moody’s opinion is therefore based on their subjective assumptions and hypotheses with no reasonable basis for support. Since March 2020, SBG has repeatedly requested Moody’s to remove the unsolicited rating and to change their publication method to avoid any misinterpretation by investors as a granted credit rating. The transparency of Moody’s analysis has diminished over time, creating a significantly widened gap between their assessments and our actual situation.

SBG has previously strongly protested, and we reiterate our request that Moody’s immediately cease the publication of unsolicited credit ratings about SBG that fail to reflect our true state.

Moody’s justifies the issuance of unsolicited credit ratings by citing the “benefit of providing information for market participants.” Their Ratings Assignment Policy allows for unsolicited ratings “if (i) there is an appropriate level of interest in the announcement of an unsolicited rating by credit markets and investors, and (ii) it is believed that there is sufficient information for an appropriate analysis and if necessary for the continuous verification and updating of an assigned credit rating.” However, our discussions with market participants reveal that Moody’s unsolicited credit rating is not perceived as beneficial information. Moreover, factual inaccuracies in Moody’s analysis further demonstrate that neither of their criteria has been met.

The continued publication of unsolicited ratings by Moody’s for nearly four years risks misleading investors making investment decisions. SBG is exploring all available options, including the possibility of legal action and consultation with regulatory authority, to address this issue.

SBG’s credit is only rated by S&P Global Ratings (S&P) and Japan Credit Rating Agency, Ltd. (JCR). SBG will continue to provide S&P and JCR with accurate information necessary for their rating analyses, such as our management strategy, financial policies, and financing matters, through interviews with our management and other means of communication.