As the world's largest taxi company plans to go public, its IPO is valued in the range of $80-90 billion
SAN FRANCISCO — Uber plans to set a price range for its initial public offering that would value it at as much as $90 billion, a person with knowledge of the situation said Thursday, in a sign of caution amid a flood of highly hyped tech offerings.
The world’s largest ride-hailing company, Uber plans to offer its shares to investors for $44 to $50 each, putting its total valuation between $80 billion and $90 billion, said this person, who was not authorized to speak publicly.
In that range, Uber would fall short of the $100 billion valuation that it would have reached based on earlier pricing it shared with some investors, though it would still be above the $76 billion it was appraised at in its most recent private fundraising in August.
Lyft, Uber’s chief rival in the ride-hailing industry, got off to a turbulent start in public markets. In the weeks since Lyft’s shares began trading, they have skidded below their offering price, making it more of a challenge for Uber to pitch itself to investors.
Lyft was the first ride-hailing business to go public, and stock investors are closely watching its progress to determine how to value the business model. Both companies are growing rapidly, but neither is profitable. Lyft increased its IPO price after meetings with investors suggested there was a strong appetite for the stock, but since the stock began trading Lyft’s valuation has dropped from $24 billion to $16.1 billion.
The rocky start created pressure for Uber to be conservative in its pricing, and avoid “breaking” — or falling below — its IPO price, said Kathleen Smith, a principal at Renaissance Capital, which provides institutional research and IPO exchange-traded funds.
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