Uber Sells Stake to SoftBank, Valuing Ride-Hailing Giant at $48 Billion
“We have tremendous confidence in Uber’s leadership
and employees and are excited to support Uber as it continues to reinvent how people and goods are transported around the world,” Rajeev Misra, chief executive of SoftBank Investment Advisers and a director at SoftBank Group Corp., said in a statement.
The deal, part of a tender offer process initiated by SoftBank last month, will allow some of Uber’s earliest shareholders, including employees
and venture capital firms like Benchmark and First Round, to cash out and receive what will prove to be a large payday.
And in a maneuver to prop up Uber’s value, SoftBank will also purchase up to $1.25
billion worth of new shares at the existing valuation of $67.5 billion.
While SoftBank played hardball with Uber, it promised investors it would cover the price difference for them if the final
sale price came in over $33 a share, according to a clause in the documents detailing the terms of the agreement.
Mr. Khosrowshahi also said he wanted to take Uber public by 2019,
and investors wondered if the company could maintain its valuation as it prepared for an initial offering of shares.
The deal will allow SoftBank to invest a significant amount of its “Vision Fund,”
a $100 billion fund earmarked for technology-focused companies around the world.
