Real estate technology platform Cadre is in talks with SoftBank Group for an investment of at least $100 million.
Representatives for the SoftBank Vision Fund met with a top executive from Cadre recently, Bloomberg reported. The fund gets nearly half of its $100 billion from the Saudi Arabian government and at least $15 billion from the United Arab Emirates.
According to Cadre representatives, co-founder Jared Kushner doesn’t have an active role at the company, but hasn’t divested his stake in the startup, which is valued between $5 million and $25 million.
The deal between Cadre and SoftBank may not materialize, sources told Bloomberg.
At the end of 2017, Cadre was valued at $800 million. Its backers include Andreesen Horowitz and a fund founded by George Soros. Goldman Sachs also committed to investing $250 million of client’s money on commercial properties on the platform.
Kushner’s ties to Cadre could pose some conflicts of interest. SoftBank’s CEO Masayoshi Son is pushing for the merger of Sprint, a subsidiary of Softbank, with T-Mobile US, which would require the approval of federal regulators. Receiving money from Middle Eastern governments could also be an issue, given Kushner’s role as an advisor in the region.
This came up in recent discussions about Kushner Companies’ 666 Fifth Avenue. Brookfield Property Partners is in talks to take over leasing and operations at the office tower, in addition to investing hundreds of millions for a repositioning. The Qatari Investment Authority is Brookfield’s second-largest shareholder, though Brookfield representatives have said it has no involvement in the deal.
Last year, SoftBank made roughly 100 investments through its fund with a combined value of $36 billion in companies. Nearly $5 billion was invested in WeWork and Compass. The Real Deal recently explored whether its investments in disruptive real estate companies would pay off. [Bloomberg] — Kathryn Brenzel