Uber completes sale of $9.3 billion in stock to SoftBank-led group

Uber Technologies Inc. completed its deal with SoftBank Group Corp., triggering a slate of governance reforms at the ride-hailing company.

Uber shareholders sold about $8 billion of stock at a discounted price to a group of investors led by SoftBank, making the Japanese conglomerate the largest shareholder. SoftBank also invested $1.25 billion directly into Uber at a valuation of about $70 billion, the same as 2016. The blended valuation is about $54 billion, said a person familiar with the matter.

The deal puts into effect changes to the San Francisco company’s board and stock that were contingent on the transaction going through.

Uber will create additional board seats, expanding the total to 17 — significantly larger than most companies. SoftBank intends to name one of its executives, Rajeev Misra, as well as Sprint Corp. Chief Executive Marcelo Claure to the board, said the person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because the plans are private. Four other seats, including a board chair, also will need to be filled.

“Uber has a very bright future under its new leadership,” Misra said in a statement, citing the “professionalism” of the board and management team in helping close the deal.

The changes eliminate super-voting stock rights held by early employees and backers. Those include co-founder Travis Kalanick and venture capital firm Benchmark, who also plan to end a legal entanglement following the deal’s passage.

The SoftBank investment is a victory for Uber’s new CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, who took over in September. The negotiations over the deal proved tense. At one point, SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son publicly proposed investing in Uber’s U.S. competitor, Lyft Inc., if the deal talks fell through.

Newcomer writes for Bloomberg.