"SoftBank, Dragoneer, Didi close to finalizing investment in Uber"

From TechCrunch:

Japan’s SoftBank Group, U.S. investment group Dragoneer and Chinese rideshare giant Didi Chuxing are close to finalizing their investment in Uber via a joint venture, sources tell TechCrunch. The tender offer is on track to launch by the end of the month and includes a direct investment in the company, as well as the purchase of shares from employees and early investors.

The potential investors were first reported by The New York Times about a month ago. We’re hearing that the conversations are not only still happening, but that the deal is likely to include the largest secondary transaction in history, with thousands of Uber employees eligible to sell shares.

Bloomberg earlier reported that Uber could be lining up between $2 billion and $10 billion from these new investors. We’re hearing that the latest conversations involve numbers toward the top of that range, around $8 billion to $10 billion.

The investment is being led by Dragoneer, Didi and SoftBank — which now has about $100 billion to deploy from its Vision Fund — but General Atlantic is also expected to participate. A special-purpose vehicle is being formed to make the investment.
Uber declined to comment.

The round is significant, not only because of the deal size, but because some of the shares invested in the company will likely be purchased at Uber’s last private valuation of nearly $70 billion....MORE