Uber Shares Drop As SoftBank Plans To Sell One-Third Of Its Stake
SoftBank will sell around one-third of its stake in ride-hailing company Uber to help cover its losses on its investments in ride-hailing company Didi. Following the announcement by SoftBank, Uber shares fell by 5% in extended trading.
SoftBank has seen total losses of around $4 billion on its Didi position and has also suffered from a decline in the valuation of Alibaba. Uber’s own Didi stake saw a $2 billion decline last week following the June debut of Didi’s American depositary shares as China’s officials planned fines against Didi amid a wider crackdown on US-listed Chinese companies.
SoftBank’s announcement comes just one week after Uber stock rose somewhat as the company’s trucking unit revealed plans to acquire shipping software company Transplace for approximately $2.25 billion. While shares in Uber are down by around 8%, Didi shares have dropped by 37% from their $14.44 closing price on the stock’s first day of trading. Since Didi’s US IPO, SoftBank has also seen its shares tumble.
SoftBack first invested in Uber back in 2018. The following year, SoftBank Vision Fund then invested an additional $333 million. In March of this year, Uber referred to SoftBank as a “large stockholder.”
