(Reuters) - SoftBank Group Corp explored an attempt to take itself private over the past week, holding discussions with investors including hedge fund Elliott Management and the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, citing three sources.However, eventually SoftBank opted to move ahead with a plan to sell down $41 billion (35 billion pounds) in assets to pay down its debt and boost a share buyback to 2.5 trillion yen (19.1 billion pounds), the report..