Benzinga | Apr 5, 2021 06:59AM EDT

Invitae Shares Are Trading Higher On SoftBank's Potential $1.2B Debt Investment: WSJ

* Japanese technology firm SoftBank Group Corp (OTC: SFTBY) (OTC: SFTBF) is planning to infuse around $1.2 billion via convertible debt into genetic-testing provider Invitae Corp (NYSE: NVTA), the Wall Street Journal reports.

* The convertible debt investment will help Invitae to expand its platform utility. The notes have an initial conversion price of $43.18 per share, signifying a 20% premium to the company's trailing 5-day average as of April 1.

* Invitae's shares have tripled in a year. The stock closed at $39.19 last Thursday, hitting a market valuation of $7.7 billion.

* SoftBank's investments are aimed at biotech and life-science portfolio expansion. It has recently invested in multiple U.S. life-sciences company initial public offerings (IPOs). SoftBank's public holdings included Pacific Biosciences Of California Inc (NASDAQ: PACB), 4D Molecular Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ: FDMT), and AbCellera Biologics Inc (NASDAQ: ABCL).

* Price action: NVTA shares traded higher by 9.9% at $42 in the premarket session on the last check Monday.