Because Uber wants to get rid of the Chinese Didi
According to Bloomberg, Uber is planning to sell part of its stake in China's Didi. Here because
Uber Technologies is said to be looking to sell part of its $ 6.3 billion stake in Chinese ride-sharing company Didi Chuxing. Bloomberg writes it citing some sources according to which Uber would be willing to monetize minority stakes in other companies. The goal is to raise liquidity and try to raise its share price.
In fact, in April, Uber said it expected a devaluation of up to $ 2.2 billion from the book value of some minority stakes in the company due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic .
Uber closed yesterday on the stock exchange at $ 37.66 per share, below the $ 45 it was listed on the stock exchange in May 2019 .
WHAT KHOSROWSHAHI IS ARCHITECTING WITH SOFTBANK FOR DIDI
Also according to rumors, the CEO of Uber, Dara Khosrowshahi, would be negotiating the sale with Didi itself and with SoftBank, the Japanese group which is one of the main shareholders of both companies.
THE POSSIBLE SCENARIOS
Among the various scenarios, one option is for SoftBank to team up with other investors to acquire a minority of Uber's 15% stake, while Didi's involvement would seem less likely.
While various scenarios are under discussion, one option is for SoftBank to partner with other investors to acquire a minority of Uber's 15% stake, one person said. Didi, who has to approve any sale, is unlikely to buy stock on his own, another person said.
ENTRY INTO THE CHINESE DIDI IN 2016
As Bloomberg recalls, Uber got its Didi stake after it pulled out of China in 2016 and sold its business to its Chinese competitor.
Didi's valuation hit $ 56 billion with the ride-hailing boom, but her stock slipped into private market transactions amid regulatory woes and the coronavirus pandemic.
APPLE AND ALIBABA HAVE ALSO INVESTED IN DIDI
Also in 2016, other tech giants also decided to focus on the Chinese taxi sharing company, from Alibaba to Apple. The Cupertino company has chosen to invest 1 billion dollars in Didi Chuxing.
UBER SHORT OF LIQUIDITY
In the first quarter, Uber recorded its stake in Didi at $ 6.3 billion from $ 8.2 billion. But now the San Francisco-based ride-hailing pioneer is starting to monetize holdings in other companies in an effort to raise cash.
THE SHAREHOLDINGS IN YANDEX TAXI AND GRAB
Back in 2017, Uber had streamlined its operations outside its core markets ahead of the 2019 IPO.
Three years ago, Uber acquired a 36.6% stake in the Yandex taxi-sharing service (owned by the Russian search engine Yandex) in a $ 3.72 billion joint venture. In the latest deal, Uber has combined its operations in Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Georgia in the Yandex joint venture.
Also in 2017, Uber agreed to swap its Southeast Asian business with a 27.5% stake in Singapore-based ride-hailing company Grab.
Uber currently also owns 37% of Yandex Taxi and approximately 18% of Grab. According to the communication to investors of the company last August 6.
It is therefore possible that Uber will also monetize these holdings.
According to Bloomberg , Alibaba is reportedly in talks to invest $ 3 billion in Grab.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/smartcity/perche-uber-vuole-liberarsi-della-cinese-didi/ on Thu, 17 Sep 2020 13:05:16 +0000.