Japanese multinational telecommunications and Internet firm SoftBank Group said in a statement that although it is considering investing into the ride-hailing company Uber Technologies, there was “no final agreement”.
The statement was issued after Uber said that the company had entered into an agreement with a consortium led by SoftBank and Dragoneer on a potential multibillion-dollar investment.
SoftBank’s statement also included, “If conditions on share price and a minimum of shares are not satisfactory for the SoftBank Group side, there is a possibility the SoftBank Group may not make an investment.”
According to a report by The Japan Times, The Japanese group, founded by billionaire tycoon Masayoshi Son, was interested in investing around $1 billion in Uber for a stake of at least 14 percent, several months ago.
According to reports, a deal would be helpful for Uber, as the company is looking to begin a new chapter post recent repeated scandals.
The Japan Times also said that SoftBank has been diversifying through investments for many years. The company has entered into sectors outside its core mobile technology business and has inked partnerships with the likes of French robotics firm Aldebaran and e-commerce Chinese player Alibaba.
Earlier this year in September, SoftBank had reportedly offered to buy shares at a $45 billion valuation for Uber, while its largest venture investor, Benchmark, has publicly stated that they believe Uber will be worth $100 billion, according to a report by Recode.
In July this year, ride-hailing platform Grab raised $2 billion from Didi Chuxing and SoftBank Group. The deal also cemented an alliance between SoftBank, Didi and Grab, which competes against Uber in markets from Malaysia to Thailand.
If the SoftBank deal comes through for Uber, it would also be a big win for the firm’s recently appointed CEO Dara Khosrowshahi. Khosrowshahi reportedly has often served as a mediator to help broker the agreement, according to sources.
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