Uber CEO says the company is considering selling its stake in Didi - PingWest

Uber CEO says the company is considering selling its stake in Didi

Uber CEO says the company is considering selling its stake in Didi

Rebbeca Ren

posted on 5 hours ago

Uber reported a $2.4 billion loss in its third-quarter results, owing primarily to its investment in Didi.

Uber said on Tuesday that it is looking to sell some of its stake in Chinese ride-hailing company Didi Global, since it is a non-strategic investment, according to Reuters.

During a virtual fireside chat with a UBS analyst, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said, "Our Didi stake we don't believe is strategic. They're a competitor, China is a pretty difficult environment with very little transparency".

The CEO revealed that aside from Didi, the company was considering selling its stakes in what it considers non-strategic investments in other companies.

Many of its shares in these companies will be sold, but for strategic reasons, it would continue to hold some shares, the CEO explained.

Khosrowshahi said the company was in no rush to sell the shares. "Those kinds of stakes we look to monetize smartly over time," he said.

Uber owns about 12% of Didi, making it the second-largest investor behind SoftBank. The US ride-hailing giant obtained its stake in 2016 after selling its Chinese business to Didi in exchange for equity in its rival.

Since Didi went public in July, Chinese regulators have put a lot of pressure on it in terms of data security, privacy, employee protection and etc.

Recently, the company said it plans to start the process of delisting from the US to listing in Hong Kong. The company's stock price closed at $6.32 on December 14, far below the IPO price of $14.

Uber reported a $2.4 billion loss in its third-quarter results, owing primarily to its investment in Didi. Since the giant is competing with its American counterpart Lyft to prove to investors that it can be "profitable", reducing investment risk has become one of the most practical approaches.