U

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi says that SoftBank deal will likely happen

The Jolt Journal (https://www.joltjournal.com

Uber’s CEO Dara Khosrowshahi says that he is confident in the SoftBank investment into Uber. He adds that the investment deals hasn’t happened yet but will likely happen soon (via Recode).

“It hasn’t happened yet but it will,” Khosrowshahi said at the New York Times Dealbook conference. “Our making changes in governance is unquestionably good. Our bringing SoftBank in as a strategic investor at the right price.”

Uber has been in talks with SoftBank for a multi-billion dollar investment that would help restructure Uber’s board and the way it operates. Khosrowshahi has been with Uber for two months now and he’s already bringing about significant changes in the company. Uber’s board already voted to do away with high voting shares as part of the funding agreement with SoftBank.

Uber’s CEO says that “All parties, at the end, know this is a good direction to go in.”

“I don’t have anything against high voting shares,” he says. “There’s this reasoning behind high voting shares that isn’t necessary in real life. High voting shares make sense when the [board and executives] are in concert.” This wasn’t the case with Uber though he adds.

Khosrowshahi says that the company could go public as soon as in the next 18 months. This is a bold prediction, but with the decisions and path the company is on, there’s a high chance 2018 could be a big year for Uber.

“We have all the disadvantages of being a public company, as far as [the] spotlight, without any of the advantages of being public,” he said when asked why he was in a rush in taking the company public. He adds that SoftBank doesn’t have e particular interesting in taking Uber public. “If you talk to SoftBank, they don’t have particular interest in going public,” he says.

SoftBank right now is in deep talks with Uber as to the price of existing stock will be bought at. The board has reached a tentative agreement with SoftBank for a “tender offer” sale process, some investors think that the potential deal could still fall apart and be taken off the table. Uber does have high interest in getting investment from SoftBank because the Japanese-giant has also expressed interest in possibly investing in Uber-competitor, Lyft.

Hamza Khalid

Hamza Khalid is the Lead Editor at The Jolt Journal. You're more than welcome to follow him on Twitter and follow The Jolt Journal on Twitter and Facebook. If you have any questions, concerns, or need to report something in this article, please send our team an email at [email protected]. This story may be updated at any time if new information surfaces.

At The Jolt Journal, no one tells us what to write or how to write it. This is why, in the era of lies and bias, readers turn to an independent source. Rest assured, all information on our website is free of any bias or influence. If you see anything wrong with a story, please don't hesitate to reach out. We do our very best to report on the latest available information.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.