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SoftBank revealed that it sold its Uber holdings sometime between April and July, at an average price of $41.47 per share. According to SoftBank, the average cost per share was $34.50, meaning the bank sold the Uber stake at a profit.

SoftBank’s move comes as its technology investment vehicle, Vision Fund, reported a 2.93 trillion Japanese yen loss for the June quarter. 

SoftBank invested in Uber in 2018 and then again the following year, becoming the ride-hailing giant’s largest shareholder at one point. However, in 2021, the bank sold around a third of its stake in Uber and the remaining this year.

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Johnson, ministers, and executives from the London Stock Exchange have been involved in an 11th-hour bid to persuade SoftBank to consider at least a partial listing of Arm in the country. However, higher valuations have recently made New York a more attractive choice for most of the world’s largest tech flotations. 

“We want to make the UK the most attractive place for innovative businesses to grow and raise capital,” a government spokesperson commented in May.

Back in February, SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son disregarded the UK when outlining backup plans for the flotation of Arm following the collapse of a $40 billion takeover deal by its California-based rival Nvidia.

“We think that the Nasdaq stock exchange in the US, which is at the centre of global hi-tech, would be most suitable,” Son commented at the time.

However, more recently, Son said London was still an option for the company’s upcoming stock market listing, though added that his top preference was the US’s tech-focused Nasdaq stock exchange.

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The “buy now, pay later” company said it raised $800 million in fresh funding from investors at a valuation worth $6.7 billion. This figure comes in significantly below the $45.6 billion value secured by Klarna in a 2021 cash injection led by Japan’s SoftBank. 

The news of Klarna’s valuation drop comes after weeks of speculation that the firm has been seeking a so-called down round. This is where a privately-valued firm raises capital at a valuation lower than when it last sold new shares to investors. 

“During the steepest drop in global stock markets in over fifty years, investors recognised our strong position and continued progress in revolutionising the retail banking industry,” commented Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski.  

Klarna reportedly plans to use the funding to push on with its expansion into the United States, where the firm already has around 30 million users.

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Preparations for the IPO follow on from the collapse of Nvidia Corp’s deal to buy Arm from SoftBank for $40 billion after widespread objections from US and European antitrust regulators. SoftBank has announced it will likely list Arm on Nasdaq by March of next year. 

Over the past few weeks, SoftBank has interviewed investment banks for Arm’s IPO, asking them to commit to providing a credit line as part of their commitments to the deal.  

Last month, SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son promised investors that the company “will aim for the biggest IPO ever in semiconductor history,” when discussing Arm’s listing. 

While it is likely that SoftBank will list Arm in the United States, the venue of the flotation is reportedly yet to be finalised.

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.”

On Thursday, Revolut announced it had raised $800 million (£579 million) from new investors Tiger Global Management and Japanese Investment group SoftBank. The deal boosted the London-based fintech’s worth to $33 billion (£24 billion). This is a huge increase from last year when Revolut was valued at $5.5 billion. The announcement comes nearly a month after Revolut revealed losses of £207.8 million despite the fintech cashing in big on the cryptocurrency boom.

Revolut was founded by Nik Storonsky, former Lehman Brothers trader, in 2015. The banking app initially focused on offering free currency exchange to customers but has since expanded to over thirty different countries. Revolut now offers business accounts, investments, and wage advances. Although Revolut holds an EU banking licence, it is yet to receive approval in the UK.

Uber is close to securing an investment deal with Softbank, which if succesful, could amount to £10bn according to reports.

TechCrunch were given the following statement: “We’ve entered into an agreement with a consortium led by SoftBank and Dragoneer on a potential investment. We believe this agreement is a strong vote of confidence in Uber’s long-term potential… strengthening our corporate governance.”

Uber have said the money is going to aid them in their international expansion and technological advancements. The aim of the expansion is partly due to the competition they are currently experiencing.

As well as an initial $1bn investment, Softbank will attempt to buy up £6.8bn ($9bn) worth of shares, resulting in a total stake of 14% in Uber. However, this is reliant on the agreement of a fairly complex tender offer.

The tender offer is set to take place on November 28th and could go on for 20 business days, making it possibly the biggest secondary transaction ever.

Given that any deal would be reliant on existing Uber shareholders selling their stakes, the process will require more work before it can be finalised. To help spread the word about their tender offer to existing shareholders including venture capitalists and ex-employees, Uber plan on putting adverts into newspapers.

According to TechCrunch, the following statement was given to reporters via Softbank on behalf of Rajeev Misra, CEO of SoftBank Investment Advisors: “After a long and arduous process of several months it looks like Uber and its shareholders have agreed to commence with a tender process and engage with SoftBank. By no means is our investment decided. We are interested in Uber but the final deal will depend on the tender price and a minimum percentage shareholding for SoftBank.”

The statement made by Softbank reveals that the deal has not been confirmed and will depend on the agreement of the tender price and percentage shareholding for Softbank.

This investment is seen by many as potentially crucial for Uber. Up until now, employees were unable to sell shares of the company and this investment will aid them in turning paper riches into cash.

It’s been a difficult year for Uber so far with legal battles involving Alphabets self-driving car division, the loss of their licence to operate in London and attacks on their company culture. The CEO Travis Kalanick was also forced to step down in June this year amid several scandals and legal wrangling with investors.

The investment made by Softbank might not only provide a welcome boost at a difficult time, it could very well be vital for Ubers future.

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