Uber the cab hailing startup, confirmed the company will receive a huge investment from SoftBank and other investors in the coming months. Dragoneer Investment Group will lead the consortium to invest $ 1 billion to $ 1.25 billion in Uber. The venture capital firm will also buy up to 17% of the existing shares from investors and employees in a secondary transaction. This investment could help resolve the on going legal battle between former CEO and founder Travis Kalanick and early investor, Benchmark.
In a statement released by Uber, the company confirmed the agreement with a consortium led by SoftBank and Dragoneer on a potential investment. “We believe this agreement is a strong vote of confidence in Uber’s long term potential. Upon closing, it will help fuel our investments in technology and our continued expansion at home and abroad, while strengthening our corporate governance,” the statement further said.
Although the Uber board approved this investment a month ago, negotiations stalled due to the ongoing legal battle between Travis Kalanick and Benchmark. TechCrunch reported this round of investment will be labeled as an extension of its last Series G round. Bloomberg reported Dragoneer Investment Group, General Atlantic and SoftBank will directly invest $ 1 billion into Uber. This investment round will value the company at $ 70 billion. Along with directly investing into Uber, SoftBank will also purchase up to $ 9 billion worth of stock from existing Uber shareholders. These shares will be brought through a process called the tender offer which can take up to a month to complete.
However, if investors refuse to sell their stock or if SoftBank is unable to secure 14% of Uber’s stock, SoftBank will have the option to walk away from the deal. In an attempt to locate the majority of the investors, SoftBank plans to buy newspaper advertisements to help spread the word that the tender offer will be launched soon.
As a part of the deal, Uber has agreed to undergo a series of sweeping changes in its governance including measures that reduce the influence of Travis Kalanick and other leadership changes. With shareholders selling billions of dollars worth of shares, this investment deal is slated to be the largest secondary transaction in history. The current Chief Executive Officer of Uber, Dara Khosrowshahi also said the company plans on going public by next year.