Friday, March 29

Will SoftBank Ditch Uber And Invest In Rival Lyft?

SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son on Monday said he could still walk away from the deal between SoftBank Group Corp and Uber, after the negotiations for stake in the cab aggregator platform. He also added that perhaps the company may even invest in Uber’s rival Lyft.

“Depending on the price and conditions, it is wholly possible we could shift our investment to the other main company Lyft. It is wholly possible,” Son said at a press conference following SoftBank’s second-quarter earnings. “We won’t know until the very end.”

The negotiations are on regarding the price of the stakes in Uber, half of which will come from existing Uber shareholders, and if arriving at a price becomes difficult, he will invest in Lyft Inc. He also mentioned about the conditions such as the number of board members, their voting rights and the “buying process”.


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Son has recently invested in China’s ride hailing firm Didi Chuxing before initiating talks with Uber. He has also backed Ola, Indian cab aggregator who competes with Uber.

There’s even a possibility that Son may invest in both, Uber and Lyft, which although he didn’t mention in the conference, but holds possibility.