The self-driving car division of Uber has raised $1 billion in investment by a consortium of investors which includes Softbank, Toyota and Denso. This was announced by Uber itself, which thus receives new fuel to be allocated to its division, just on the eve of the IPO with which it will land on the stock exchange.
Uber indeed announced that the investment values its Advanced Technologies Group (ATG) working to develop self-driving technology, 7,25 billion altogether. SoftBank will invest $333 million through its $100 billion Vision Fund while automaker Toyota and automotive parts supplier Denso will pool the remaining $667 million. The news was reported by Reuters.
The new incoming funds will allow Uber to shift a portion of the development costs of the self-driving car to outside investors. And this should reassure some objections raised by some investors about the amount of spending that Uber will allocate to the autonomous car, which has already cost $ 1 billion since the program was launched in 2016.
The program still does not bring any significant return in terms of turnover for Uber which - Reuters recalls - closed the 2018 financial statements with a loss of 3,03 billion dollars.
Uber released IPO documents in April and is preparing to launch a roadshow with investors on the company's prospects in the week of April 29, with plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange at early May.
The market expects Uber to raise about 10 billion, with an overall valuation of the company between 90 and 100 billion which corresponds to a leap of about 18 percent compared to the current valuation of 76 billion.
Returning to the announced financing agreement, Atg remains under the control of Uber which consolidates its balance sheet but will have a new board broken down as follows: six members at Uber, one at Softbank, one at Toyota. Eric Meyhofer, current head of ATG will assume the role of CEO and will report to the new board.
The operation announced by Uber will still have to pass the green light Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) which on the basis of the law passed last year by the Trump administration has expanded its powers on the entry of minority shareholders in startups operating in technologically strategic or otherwise sensitive sectors, so much so that a previous investment by the Japanese Softbank in the autonomous driving division of General Motors, announced more than a year ago, is still under review and the decision still appears distant.
