SoftBank’s tender offer for Uber has divided shareholders in the ride-hailing firm. Some say the offer of $33 a share, 30% below what investors paid in Uber’s last financing round in 2015, is way too low. They’ll wait to sell until the IPO expected in a couple of years, unless SoftBank raises the price.
More surprising, though, is what others say privately: the offer is reasonable. Another way of putting it is that Uber isn’t worth any more than the $48 billion implied by the offer, and may be worth less. Uber raised money at a nearly $70 billion post-money valuation last year. But that valuation is undercut by uncertainties that have emerged about key parts of Uber’s business.
