SoftBank’s $50B data centre group slows IPO plans as investors balk at valuation

SoftBank’s data center subsidiary SB Energy has hit the brakes on what was supposed to be one of the largest IPOs of 2026, pushing back its listing from September to at least mid-to-late October. The culprit: investors aren’t buying the $50 billion price tag for a company that hasn’t actually turned on a single data center yet. The company filed its S-1 registration statement with the SEC on September 1, seeking to list on Nasdaq under the ticker SBE and raise between $5 billion and $7 billion while keeping SoftBank as majority owner. A $439 billion backlog, $139 million in revenue SB Energy’s pitch to investors rests on a genuinely staggering figure: approximately $439 billion in contracted backlog, largely built on long-term lease agreements. The company has locked in 8.8 GW of contracted data center capacity, positioning itself as a major player in the AI infrastructure buildout that every tech giant is racing to complete. The problem is that almost none of this has translated into actual money coming in the door. SB Energy generated just $139 million in revenue during the first half of 2026. For context, the company is asking investors to value it at roughly 360 times its annua...