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The autonomous vehicle division of Uber has attracted a billion dollars of private financing from investors such as SoftBank Group, a welcome investment before the group's first public offering, according to news.ro.
This investment evaluates the Advanced Technologies group, which is working on the development of autonomous vehicle technology at $ 7.25 billion.
SoftBank will invest $ 333 million in its $ 100 billion Vision Fund investment fund, while automakers Toyota Motor and Denso will jointly offer $ 667 million.
Toyota will also invest an additional $ 300 million over the next three years to help cover the cost of commercial vehicle construction, Uber said.
Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber, said the funding "will help Uber stay at the forefront of the transport sector."
The funding will allow Uber to transfer part of the substantial cost of developing autonomous vehicles to external investors, which could alleviate some of the concerns of investors related to the company's own-vehicle fleet spending exceeding 1.07 billion dollars. dollars since the beginning of the program in 2016.
In the registration documents of Uber's initial public offering, Uber warned that the development of autonomous vehicle technology "could be expensive, time consuming and may not succeed", besides the fact that Uber is late to some competing companies.
The Autonomous Vehicles division does not generate any significant business revenue for Uber, with losses of $ 3.03 billion in 2018.
As part of the investment, ATG will become a legal entity, but will remain under the control of Uber. A new ATG board will be formed, comprising six directors appointed by Uber, one from SoftBank and one from Toyota. . Eric Meyhofer, the current head of the ATG, will become managing director and will work with the new board of directors.
Agreements of this magnitude are unusual before an initial public offering, as they attract large investors who change the capital structure of a company.
Uber is preparing to launch the public offer promotion campaign for investors in the week of April 29, when the New York Stock Exchange will make its debut at the beginning of May. The company could attract $ 10 billion on a valuation of $ 90-100 billion.
The deal with Toyota and SoftBank is expected to be completed in the third quarter, but depends on the agreement of the regulators, including the US Investment Committee. The tasks of this committee have been extended to the valuation of minority holdings of foreign investors in startups with sensitive technologies, and the automated management technology is considered to include defense applications.
SoftBank Investment in General Motors, Cruise Autoservice Division Still to Wait
SoftBank and Toyota have invested in Uber. SoftBank acquired a 16% stake in Uber last year for $ 8 billion, becoming the largest shareholder. Toyota invested in Uber in 2016 and again in August 2018, for $ 500 million, to help develop autonomous vehicles.
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