A ‘blank cheque’ company set up by the SoftBank is in talks to merge with a start-up which competes with the likes of Google Maps in the provision of sophisticated location data services. Sky News has learnt that Mapbox Inc. is in detailed negotiations to go public through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) - the latest in a torrent of technology businesses to list on New York exchanges through such a route in recent months. A US banking source said on April 23, 2021 that the discussions between MapBox and SVF Investment Corp. 3 (NasdaqCM:SVFC) were at an advanced stage, but cautioned that a definitive transaction could still fall apart. Investment banks including Cantor Fitzgerald, Citi, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan and UBS are all understood to be involved in the deal. Although Mapbox would be far from unusual in choosing a SPAC to launch its tenure as a publicly traded company, the transaction would be unusual in that SoftBank is already a shareholder in the company through its vast Vision Fund.