Uber shares tumble as Softbank considers selling shares to cover Didi’s losses

SoftBank is selling about a third of its stake in ride-sharing company Uber to cover losses on its investment in Chinese ride-sharing company Didi, two people familiar with the matter told CNBC. He plans to sell 45 million shares, which will be blocked for 30 days.

Uber shares fell 5% in extended trading following the report.

The value of Uber’s own stake in Didi fell by $ 2 billion last week after Didi’s US custodian shares started on the New York Stock Exchange in June, as China reportedly scheduled fines and d ‘further sanctions against the company as part of a broader crackdown on Chinese companies listed in the United States.

SoftBank lost about $ 4 billion on its Didi position in total, CNBC’s Deirdre Bosa reported.

The news comes a week after Uber shares edged up after the company’s trucking unit announced plans to acquire shipping software company Transplace from TPG Capital for around $ 2.25 billion. dollars.

Didi shares fell 37% from their closing price of $ 14.14 on the share’s first trading day, June 30. Over the same period, Uber shares are down about 8%.

SoftBank’s own shares have also fallen since Didi’s IPO in the United States. The SoftBank Vision Fund held 21.5% of Didi following its listing in the United States.

SoftBank invested in Uber in 2018. In 2019, SoftBank Vision Fund invested an additional $ 333 million in Uber. As late as March 31, Uber called SoftBank a “major shareholder.”

Many people called the purchase of SoftBank’s Uber shares a failed investment, SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son told analysts on a conference call in February, saying he was paying money. dear to a bad company.

“However,” he said, “in fact, as you can see, we’ve already made a gain of almost 500 billion yen with Uber.”