SoftBank makes first direct investment in Saudi company

FILE PHOTO: SoftBank Corp
FILE PHOTO: SoftBank Corp's logo is pictured at a news conference in Tokyo, Japan, February 4, 2021. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

DUBAI (Reuters) - SoftBank has made its first direct investment in Saudi Arabia, co-leading with a government-owned fund a $125 million financing rounding in communications company Unifonic, the start-up said.

The investment will be used by the Riyadh-headquartered firm to expand its products to more customers, it said in a statement.

SoftBank co-led the investment through its Vision Fund 2 alongside state fund Sanabil Investments.

Unifonic, which provides online and mobile communications services, says it has quadrupled in size in less than three years and is now processing over 10 billion transactions on its platform each year.

(Reporting by Dubai Newsroom; editing by Jason Neely)

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