Uber files paperwork for its initial public offering
- by Emilio Sims
- in Money
- — Apr 15, 2019
Uber said in its filing its ridehailing position in the United States and Canada was "significantly impacted by adverse publicity events" and that its position in many markets has been threatened by discounts from other ride-hailing companies.
Analysts at one City broker have warned that Uber Technologies Inc's upcoming IPO could spell bad news for online takeaway marketplace Just Eat PLC (LON:JE.).
The big picture: Early estimates suggest Uber could be prepared to raise as much as $10 billion.
Lyft conquer Uber into the stock market a month with an IPO that raised $2.3 billion, but its shares have been backsliding after an early run-up.
Uber lost $3.03 billion in 2018 from operations.
The company is on track to price its IPO and begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange in early May.
In the long run, Uber is broadly expected to be the tech IPO since Chinese e-commerce giant.
The business operates in 65 countries and has finished 10 billion excursions worldwide. It shortened its name to Uber in 2010, distancing itself from the taxicab industry, which has criticized the company for operating under less regulation than the traditional taxi industry.
And the company is investing heavily in businesses in areas such as food delivery and scooters.
But Uber faces challenges that Lyft does not due to a string of revelations that sullied its reputation among consumers.
It's been a tumultuous journey for Uber to get to this point: regulatory fights, accusations of hacking and spying, sexual misconduct by top executives, allegations of harassment and gender discrimination, numerous lawsuits and fines, crimes committed by drivers (including a mass shooting), claims of stolen self-driving technology, and the ousting of the company's co-founder and CEO.
The blowback in the problems assisted Lyft pickup soil in the USA and contributed to the ouster of both Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick CEO in 2017. Now it will be up to Kalanick's successor, Khosrowshahi, to persuade investors that Uber has cleaned up its act and merits a market value higher than Ford Motor and General Motors combined.
Cayman, a subsidiary of Softbank, is Uber's biggest shareholder with 16 percent. It launched its first self-driving test vehicle in 2016 and its self-driving auto division has more than 1,000 employees, and it has built more than 250 self-driving cars so far. The company resumed testing self-driving automobiles. Uber notes that Waymo has already introduced a limited ride-hailing service in Arizona, and concedes that other competitors could launch similar services before Uber can do the same. Further, any such reclassification would require us to fundamentally change our business model, and consequently have an adverse effect on our business and financial condition.
"We believe that autonomous vehicle technologies will enable a product that competes with the cost of personal vehicle ownership and usage, and represents the future of transportation", Uber's filing said.
Ride-hailing rivals Lyft won the race to an initial public offering but the firm's share price has taken a heavy hit since going public, which may cause Uber to reevaluate their own expectations.