SoftBank's Son stands to double $7.7 billion stake in Uber IPO

[tacobell fan]

Masayoshi Son will soon have some evidence to back his faith in ride-hailing: His stake in Uber Technologies Inc. may be worth at least double the $7.7 billion he paid for it little more than a year ago.

 

SoftBank Group Corp.’s Vision Fund owns 16.3 percent of the world’s biggest ride-hailing company, according to Uber’s filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchanges Commission on Thursday. Uber is reported to seek a valuation of between $90 billion and $120 billion for the initial public offering planned in May, putting SoftBank’s share between $15 billion and $20 billion.

Son is betting big that hitching rides via an app and autonomous vehicles are the future of transportation. In addition to Uber, SoftBank has poured more than $10 billioninto China’s Didi Chuxing, $3 billion into Southeast Asia’s leading provider Grab and $2.25 billion in General Motor Co.’s self-driving unit Cruise. Son has said that put together, Vision Fund’s portfolio companies control 90 percent of the ride-hailing market worldwide.

“There were many naysayers when SoftBank invested last year at a valuation around $49 billion,” said Chris Lane, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. “The successful IPO of Uber at a valuation anywhere near $100 billion will be a strong validation for SoftBank and its Vision Fund. This is also very good news for SoftBank’s other ride-hailing investments.”

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-12/softbank-s-son-stands-to-double-7-7-billion-stake-in-uber-ipo