Growing litigation costs and fierce global competition have widened Uber’s net loss in the third quarter to $1.46 billion reports the company. This compares to a loss of $1.06 billion in the previous quarter.
At the same time, net revenue went up from $1.66 billion to $2.01 billion with gross bookings growing to $9.71 billion against the $8.74 billion in the second quarter.
Following a number of major difficulties, including a massive data breach and revelations about internal spying, the ride-hailing company launched a tender offer to sell its shares.
The SoftBank-led consortium that includes Dragoneer, Sequoia Capital, TPG and Tencent have offered to buy up to $8 billion in shares from existing Uber shareholders in a new round of financing. However, the group of potential investors is offering $32.96 per share, a third lower than the $48.77 paid to the company last year.
The Japanese company is also purchasing a billion dollars of new shares at a higher price, which created a blended valuation for Uber of $54 billion, down from $68 billion last year, according to a SoftBank spokesperson. The company confirmed that Benchmark Capital and Menlo Ventures intended to sell shares.
Despite significantly knocked down prices, the deal may reportedly become a turning point for the privately held San Francisco firm, as it is getting ready to go public as early as next year.
This year, Uber has to appoint a new chief executive. Under Dara Khosrowshahi, who replaced founder Travis Kalanick, the company’s adjusted third-quarter losses widened to $743 million, up 14 percent from the previous quarter.