Uber Plays Safe, Prices IPO at $45 Per Share

Facing a turbulent time at its drivers' end, Uber Technologies has priced its initial public offering (IPO) at $45 per share and aims to raise $8.1 billion as it prepared for its public debut on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday.

According to a CNBC report late Thursday, "at the IPO price of $45 per share, the company will be valued on a non-diluted basis at about $75.46 billion".

"On a fully diluted basis, Uber has an implied market valuation of $82.4 billion," the report added.

The ride-hailing service is offering 180 million shares of its common stock.

Uber was expected to be valued at as much at $120 billion following its offering.

"But it dialed back the projected price of its shares after rival Lyft, which went public in March, saw its stock sink sharply following its IPO. Lyft shares were trading this week at around $54, down 25 per cent from their debut day," reports CBSNews.

The company registered $11.3 billion in revenue for 2018 — up 43 per cent from 2017. It adjusted losses of $1.8 billion, an improvement over losses of $2.6 billion in 2017, according to its IPO filing.

Uber filed its IPO process last month. It would be listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol "UBER".

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As of December 31, 2018, it had 91 million, or 9.1 crore, monthly active platform users. There were 3.9 million, or 39 lakh, drivers on the platform by the end of 2018.

Uber drivers in cities like Los Angeles, New York City, London and Tokyo joined a global strike and logged off from the app as they cash incentives have considerably gone down while work hours have gone up. (IANS)