Uber has officially filed for an initial public offering or IPO. Documents filed with regulatory authorities and seen by various news outlets appear to suggest so. But Uber’s intentions to go public have always been known. In fact, the ride-hailing service filed the request for an IPO confidentially in December. However, on Thursday this week, the filings were made public, giving investors and other interested parties a sneak preview of the company’s strategy moving forward.
Uber is looking at food delivery, self-driving cars, and flying cars as the future and it’s been working on the required technology to make some of these goals a reality. The tech giant is expected to list on the NYSE under the ticker symbol UBER. The offering will be underwritten by a number of major banks including Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Bank of America, Allen & Company, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and others.
The documents filed with regulators didn’t, however, reveal how much the shares will cost. However, if the current public valuation is used, it will definitely be one of the biggest IPOs in years. Bloomberg is also reporting that the ride-hailing company is scheduled for a countrywide investor roadshow that aims to drum up demand for the IPO in the coming few weeks. The roadshow is likely to kick off before the end of this month since the IPO is expected to float in May.
So far, Uber has already raised over $20 billion in venture capital through a number of funding rounds. The company is currently valued at $120 billion. If this valuation holds, Uber will be ranked, alongside railroad operator Union Pacific and fellow tech giant Salesforce, as one of the most valuable public companies in the world. The $20 billion in capital raised by the company so far has also been crucial in its expansion. Uber is now available in almost all major cities around the world. The ride-hailing service is operating in at least 60 countries too.
The funding has been central in subsidizing the cost of operations. Uber is yet to turn a profit since it first started to operate but it seems there’s a very strong appetite for the company’s stocks. Nonetheless, most of the money made and raised has been used to invest massively in the expansion of the business. The company has even warned as it floats the IPO that it may take time before it can start to report profits.
But despite this, the value of Uber has been on the rise over the years. This is because the company is betting on other skews on its business that could also grow into giant industries. For instance, Uber is leading the way alongside other tech giants in developing self-driving cars that could revolutionize how the world moves. The company also recently launched Uber Eats, a food delivery service and one of the fastest growing segments of its business. Uber wants to integrate grocery deliveries too in the long run.
