Japanese technology giant SoftBank Group Corp. is planning an initial public offering that could net some 2 trillion yen ($18 billion) for its mobile phone business later this year, according to a report in Japan’s Nikkei newspaper.

SoftBank is looking to sell off about 30 percent of the SoftBank Corp. unit as it presses ahead with plans to transform itself into a global technology investor. The company is planning to apply for the IPO at the Tokyo Stock Exchange this spring, and will debut its shares there and also possibly in London in the fall, Nikkei said.

Under TSE rules, companies must normally limit their stake in a subsidiary to less than 65 percent, but this requirement can be relaxed if the unit is also listed overseas.

The IPO would be one of Japan’s largest ever, with the 2 trillion yen SoftBank anticipates it will make coming close to the 2.2 trillion yen netted during the 1987 listing of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp.

In a statement on Monday, SoftBank refused to deny the report, instead saying that listing its mobile business was just one of several options it was considering for its capital strategy, and that no decision had been made.

The listing would effectively mean SoftBank spinning off its mobile business, giving it greater autonomy at a time when its parent transitions to becoming an international investment firm. According to Nikkei, SoftBank would use the money it raises from the IPO to fund further investments in technology companies.

“It’s the first sign of a traditional strategy to recapitalize SoftBank, which has invested heavily abroad to build out its telecommunications empire,” said Holger Mueller, vice president and principal analyst at Constellation Research Inc. “This gives regular investors a chance to benefit from SoftBank’s performance, and it’s a good way for SoftBank to broaden capital access.”

Over the last year, SoftBank has been aggressively investing into all manner of tech companies, with most of the money coming from its massive $98 billion Vision Fund. One of its most notable investments came at the tail end of last year, when SoftBank acquired a 15 percent stake in ride sharing company Uber Technologies Inc. in a move that valued that company at $48 billion.

SoftBank’s most recent investment occurred this weekend. The Financial Times reported that it has just thrown 460 million euros ($561 million) at the German used-car dealing platform AUTO1.com GmbH. The deal is said to be SoftBank’s first investment in a German company.

Image: SoftBank