US-based ride-sharing platform Uber will welcome telecoms group SoftBank as an investor if existing backers accept an offer to sell a total of at least 14% in a secondary transaction, Bloomberg reported today.
The transactions, which would involve more than $6bn handed to existing stakeholders, would however value Uber at $48bn – an approximate 30% discount on Uber’s $69bn valuation as of its last funding round.
The deal has been in the making since October, when SoftBank was reportedly hoping to lead an $8bn to $10bn secondary investment as part of a special purpose vehicle said to include Uber peer Didi Chuxing, investment firm Dragoneer and growth equity firm General Atlantic.
The secondary transaction has been accepted by some shareholders but the process could take as long as 20 days to complete. It would come on top of acted $1bn direct investment by SoftBank in Uber, contingent on the secondary sale going through.
If the deal is successful, SoftBank will be entitled to two seats on Uber’s board of directors and become one of the company’s largest shareholders.
Founded in 2009, Uber operates a ride-sharing app in more than 80 countries and its platform has processed more than five billion journeys to date. It has raised $11.5bn in funding so far, not including the potential SoftBank-led deal.
Uber’s existing backers include Didi Chuxing, diversified conglomerate Alphabet, media groups Axel Springer and Bennett Coleman and Co, as well as software developer Microsoft and a large array of institutional and private investors.