Uber Technologies is likely to sell a 7.8% stake in Indian food delivery firm Zomato through a $373 million block deal on Wednesday, according to a source familiar with the matter and a document seen by Reuters. The offer size of $373 million was based on the lower end of a 48-54 rupee price range set for the block deal, the document showed. BofA Securities is the sole bookrunner for the deal.
Tag: Uber
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New York Plans to Cap Uber and Lyft
Taxi drivers welcome the measures, while ride-hailing firms warn the cap will lead to reduced service in City
NEW YORK CITY(TIP): New York moved to become the first city in the U.S. to cap ride-hailing services including Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc., freezing new vehicle licenses for one year while it studies the fallout from the booming industry.
The vote Wednesday, August 8 by the New York City Council could cripple the growth of Uber and Lyft in their biggest U.S. market as both companies are heading toward eventual initial public offerings. The Silicon Valley companies’ businesses depend on recruiting as many drivers as they can to drive down fares and cut pickup times.
Council members approved a package of bills after months of campaigning from taxi drivers and others in favor of the legislation and a challenge by the ride-hailing companies urging customers to oppose the bills.
Mayor Bill de Blasio, who has championed the measures and unsuccessfully tried to rein in the services in 2015, said he would sign the legislation. “Our city is directly confronting a crisis that is driving working New Yorkers into poverty and our streets into gridlock,” he said.
The ride-hailing firms warned that the cap, which the council approved in a 39-6 vote, would lead to reduced service in the outer boroughs and to higher fares at a time when the city’s subway and bus systems are frequently delayed and overcrowded.
“The city’s 12-month pause on new vehicle licenses will threaten one of the few reliable transportation options while doing nothing to fix the subways or ease congestion,” a spokeswoman for Uber, Danielle Filson, said.
Ms. Filson added: “Uber will do whatever it takes to keep up with growing demand.”
Joseph Okpaku, vice president of public policy for Lyft, said: “These sweeping cuts to transportation will bring New Yorkers back to an era of struggling to get a ride, particularly for communities of color and in the outer boroughs.”
The vote marks the first big lobbying setback for Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi.
Since joining the company in September from Expedia Group Inc., Mr. Khosrowshahi has scored several wins, including a short reprieve in London after regulators there threatened to effectively shutter Uber. He also helped to soften legislation affecting ride-hail drivers in Brazil.
Uber’s fate in New York carries added weight as the company eyes an IPO in the second half of next year. If other cities follow New York’s example, it could cast doubt on Uber’s ability to maintain its growth, as well as the effectiveness of its lobbying operation. The nine-year-old company, last valued by investors at about $70 billion, recorded more than $7 billion in revenue last year but lost $4.5 billion.
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UBER SUFFERS NEW BLOW AS EU COURT RULES IT’S TAXI SERVICE
BRUSSELS (TIP): The EU’s top court ruled on December 20 that Uber is an ordinary transportation company instead of an app and should be regulated as such, in a decision that will be closely watched around the world.
The case is yet another thorn in the side for US-based Uber, which has drawn the fury of taxi drivers and officials for flouting local regulations.
It also comes the same week as one of its drivers admitted to the attempted rape and murder of a British embassy worker coming home from a night out in Beirut, Lebanon.
“The service provided by Uber connecting individuals with nonprofessional drivers is covered by services in the field of transport,” said the Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice.
“Member states can therefore regulate the conditions for providing that service.”
Uber, the biggest name in the growing gig economy, claims it is a mere service provider, connecting consumers with drivers in more than 600 cities.
Uber has run into huge opposition from taxi companies and other competitors who say this allows it to dodge costly regulations such as training and licensing requirements for drivers and vehicles.
The case was brought by a taxi drivers’ association in the Spanish city of Barcelona, where belief runs high that Uber is a taxi company that should be subject to rules governing such vehicles.
Uber said the ruling would make little difference in practice. “This ruling will not change things in most EU countries where we already operate under transportation law,” an Uber spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “However, millions of Europeans are still prevented from using apps like ours.”
In a dense legal judgement, the ECJ said that Uber was a service that connects “by means of a smartphone application and for remuneration nonprofessional drivers using their own vehicle with persons who wish to make urban journeys.”
That means it is “inherently linked to a transport service and, accordingly, must be classified as a ‘service in the field of transport’ within the meaning of EU law.”
The EU court’s senior adviser had said in a legal opinion in May that Uber was indeed a transport company. Uber has had a rough ride in Spain, where a judge ruled in 2014 that its UberPop service risked breaking the law, leading to the Barcelona submission to the ECJ.
Early last year it decided to only operate a limited a version of its UberX service in Spain which uses licensed, professional drivers instead of the amateurs who had previously worked via the UberPop application.
Uber has already had problems with the law in several European countries, particularly France where the company was forced to overhaul its business model.
In November a labour court in London, where the company is threatened with losing its license, said it had to pay the drivers a minimum wage and give them paid leave.
Uber does not employ drivers or own vehicles, but instead relies on private contractors with their own cars, allowing them to run their own businesses.
Licensed taxi drivers meanwhile often have to undergo hundreds of hours of training, and they accuse Uber of endangering their jobs by using cheaper drivers who rely only on a GPS to get around.
Source: AFP
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Uber in US court to fight on possible shutdown of self-driving program
SAN FRANSISCO (TIP): Uber Technologies Inc goes before a U.S. judge on Wednesday to fight for the right to continue work on its self-driving car program, the latest phase in a courtroom battle over trade secrets that threatens to topple a central pillar of Uber’s growth strategy.
The ride-services company is contesting a lawsuit by Alphabet Inc’s self-driving car unit, Waymo, which accused former Waymo engineer and current Uber executive Anthony Levandowski of taking technical secrets from Waymo and using them to help Uber’s self-driving car development.
If it were proven that Levandowski and Uber conspired in taking the information, that could have dire consequences for Uber, say legal and ride-hailing industry experts. Uber’s $68 billion valuation is propped up in part by investors’ belief it will be a dominant player in the emerging business of self-driving cars. At issue on Wednesday is Waymo’s demand that U.S. District Court Judge William Alsup in San Francisco issue an injunction barring Uber from using any of the technology that Waymo said was stolen. If Alsup issues a broadly worded order against Uber, it could all but shut down Uber’s self-driving car program while court proceedings continue. Alsup is not expected to rule immediately on Wednesday, but he may intimate which way he is leaning. At a hearing last month, Alsup warned Uber that it may face an injunction, saying of the evidence amassed by Waymo: “I’ve never seen a record this strong in 42 years.”
Uber Chief Executive Officer Travis Kalanick has said that autonomous vehicles, though still in their infancy, are critical to the company’s long-term success and future growth.