SoftBank succeeds in tender offer for Uber shares
A consortium led by SoftBank Group Corp will buy a large number of shares of Uber Technologies Inc in a deal that values the ride-services firm at $48 billion, Uber said on Thursday, in a victory for new chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi.
The price is a roughly 30 per cent discount to Uber’s most recent valuation of $68 billion. The deal will trigger a number of changes in the way the board oversees the company, which is dealing with federal criminal probes, a high-stakes lawsuit and an overhaul of its workplace culture.
SoftBank and the rest of the consortium, which includes Dragoneer Investment Group, will own approximately 17.5 per cent of Uber, a person familiar with the matter said. That stake includes a share purchase, through a tender offer, from earlier investors and employees at the $48 billion valuation, as well as a $1.25 billion investment of fresh funding at the $68 billion level.
Uber said the deal will close early next year. On Thursday it said that existing investors had agreed to sell enough shares for SoftBank to go through with the transaction.
SoftBank itself will keep a 15 per cent stake, while the rest of the consortium will own approximately three per...