In what will easily become one of the most anticipated public market debuts in the technology sector, a Wall Street Journal report states, that Uber has submitted paperwork to the SEC for an IPO. The report has also been carried independently by Bloomberg, citing sources close to the matter. This comes right on the heels of Lyft declaring its IPO filing with the SEC, and may well be a factor in Uber’s originally laterally planned IPO getting preponed.
The company was valued close to $72 Billion in its last capital raising event. Uber is expecting that valuation to reach a $120 Billion in its IPO – which if happens, will be a record in case of public market debut.
Founded in 2009 by Travis Kalanick, Uber has raised close to $20 billion in a combination of debt and equity funding. Softbank has invested the most of that $20 Bn and currently is the largest shareholder in the company. Other key investors backing up the company include Toyota, late-stage investors T. Rowe Price, Fidelity and TPG Growth. Softbank incidentally, is also a major investors in most of Uber’s regional rivals, including India’s Ola, Grab, Middle-East’s Careem among others.
While investors have been pushing Uber’s IPO within the internal management for a while, we’ll have to wait and see how the street responds to an ask for a $120 Billion valuation. The company incurred losses worth over $1.1 Billion against revenues of close to $3 Billion. It’s growth also slowed to 38% amid rising competition globally as well as that from Lyft in its traditionally strong US market. Controversies around founder Travis Kalanick, and his eventual ouster as CEO havent really helped.
