Uber mulls 3 offers as valuation forecast to hit $100 billion

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund invested $3.5 billion in the California-based Uber in June 2016. (AFP)

LONDON: Three investor groups are lining up to win a stake in the fast-growing ride-sharing company Uber, after latest estimates that the company’s valuation could exceed $100 billion in two years.
While the California-based company is currently said to be worth around $68.5 billion, Uber shareholder and venture capital firm Benchmark has tweeted that the company could “comfortably” exceed the $100 billion mark, adding that it was “incredibly optimistic” about the future of Uber.
Santosh Rao, head of research at Manhattan Venture Research, said that was an “aggressive” forecast.
Rao told Arab News that the current valuation will be partly reliant on Uber’s ability to maintain its position as a market leader against competition from others such as Lyft in the US and Ola in India.
Staying at the forefront of research into self-driving cars is another priority for the company, he said.
The latest forecasts come as the company continues to be beset with investor in-fighting after Uber’s co-founder and chief executive Travis Kalanick resigned in June. As yet, the firm is still operating without a CEO. Benchmark is currently involved in a lawsuit against Kalanick in an effort to force him off the board.
“At this stage, Uber needs strategic investors who believe in the company’s vision. More so since profitability is still a long way off so investing in Uber is not for the faint of heart,” said Rao.
According to a New York Times report, Uber’s board members have voted to take the next step with proposals from two of the prospective investor groups that are vying to buy shares in the firm.
The board of the ride-sharing company is also still reviewing a third offer, the paper said, citing anonymous sources.
Uber’s board voted to move forward on a investment proposal from the Japanese entity, SoftBank, the paper said. The company had already voted to progress with a proposition from a Dragoneer Investment Group-led party of investors to buy stock from existing shareholders.
Uber is still mulling a third offer from a group led by Shervin Pishevar to purchase shares from an existing investor, the paper said. The proposals are said to be at a preliminary stage and mainly outline plans to buy shares from current shareholders, rather than buying new shares, according to the paper’s sources.
Yasir Al-Rumayyan, managing director at Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, Public Investment Fund (PIF), holds a seat on Uber’s board, after the fund invested $3.5 billion in the California-based company in June 2016.
The investment was part of Uber’s Series G fundraising round, and at the time was one of PIF’s single largest international deals. It was a move that ensured the Gulf country now has a voice within one of the most highly valued private tech startup firms in the world.