SoftBank announced an agreement worth $2 billion to increase its stake in Yahoo Japan, as the company boosts its ties with the internet giant ahead of a telecoms IPO in the country.

The Japanese group said in a statement it will buy Yahoo shares worth JPY221 billion ($2 billion) from Altaba, the group which holds large stakes in Alibaba and Yahoo Japan.

As part of what is effectively a three-way deal, once the stake to SoftBank is transferred from Altaba, Yahoo Japan will buy back $2 billion of stock from SoftBank.

The companies said the deal will see SoftBank’s stake in Yahoo Japan rise from roughly 42 per cent to 48 per cent, while Altaba’s stake will fall from 35 per cent to 27 per cent. SoftBank, therefore, will make a net investment of $9 million to increase its stake

Masayoshi Son, chairman and CEO of SoftBank (pictured) said “this series of transactions represents an outstanding outcome for SoftBank Group, SoftBank and Yahoo Japan”.

“I have strong confidence in the future performance of Yahoo Japan and I’m excited about the significant synergies between SoftBank and Yahoo Japan, which are consistent with SoftBank’s Group’s broader synergy group initiative,” he added.

The move comes a day after SoftBank filed a preliminary application to list its domestic telecoms business on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

SoftBank has been using its Vision Fund, currently backed to the tune of $93 billion, to buy small stakes in technology companies across the world.