SoftBank considering Uber deal
SoftBank, the Japanese technology and media giant, is weighing an investment in Uber at a time when the San Francisco ride-hailing company’s leadership is in flux, according to three people with knowledge of the talks.
SoftBank’s investment interest in Uber is nascent and the two companies have held only preliminary meetings, said the people, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
But if a deal were to be reached, it would add to a convoluted web of investments in the ridehailing industry, where competitors have become strange bedfellows through investors who have placed bets on multiple companies.
SoftBank holds a position in Ola, the dominant ride-hailing company in India, which is locked in a battle with Uber across the country. SoftBank has also invested in Didi Chuxing, which until last year was deadlocked with Uber for supremacy in China’s transportation market. On Sunday, SoftBank also invested in Grab, a Singaporean ride-hailing company, in a $2.5 billion round that Didi Chuxing also participated in.
Uber and SoftBank declined to comment.
SoftBank’s interest in Uber indicates it may be hedging its bets amid intense competition in the ride-hailing industry. Many ride-hailing companies have been forced to raise billions of dollars in private capital to fund expansion of their operations, which often involves subsidizing trips for riders in new markets. That intense spending has put strain on a number of ride-hailing startups.
Uber has been one of the companies that drove the cutthroat competition in the ridehailing industry, by spending heavily and slashing costs for passengers. But that has begun to change in recent months as the company has dealt with turmoil in its executive suite.
Last month, Travis Kalanick, an Uber founder and longtime chief executive, resigned after an investor coup pushed him out of his top position at the company. Kalanick was considered a key proponent of spending heavily to expand into new markets. The ride-hailing company is now in the midst of its search for its next leader.
Uber has slowly begun to retrench on some of its more ambitious international expansion plans. Last year, the company sold its Chinese business to Didi for a stake in the Chinese company. This month, Uber sold off its business in Russia and Eastern Europe to Russia’s Yandex, again for a stake in a new, jointly operated company.