軟銀牽頭財(cái)團(tuán)收購(gòu)優(yōu)步逾17%股份

A SoftBank-led consortium has reached an agreement to buy more than 17 per cent of Uber for about $9bn, after shareholders elected on Thursday to sell their shares to the Japanese conglomerate at a discounted price.

一個(gè)由軟銀(SoftBank)牽頭的財(cái)團(tuán)就以約90億美元收購(gòu)優(yōu)步(Uber)逾17%的股份達(dá)成了協(xié)議。此前，優(yōu)步股東們?cè)谥芩臎Q定以折讓價(jià)格將所持股份出售給這家日本企業(yè)集團(tuán)。

The shareholders’ decision marks the clearing of the final hurdle in a complex deal whose success is critical to Uber’s efforts to turn over a new leaf.

優(yōu)步股東的決定標(biāo)志著一項(xiàng)復(fù)雜交易的最終障礙被清除，該交易成功達(dá)成對(duì)于優(yōu)步掀開(kāi)公司新篇章的努力至關(guān)重要。

The SoftBank deal also represents a major victory for Uber’s new chief executive, Dara Khosrowshahi, and will trigger sweeping governance changes that cement his control over the troubled company.

與軟銀達(dá)成的上述交易還意味著優(yōu)步新任首席執(zhí)行官達(dá)拉•霍斯勞沙希(Dara Khosrowshahi)的重大勝利，并將引發(fā)全面治理變革，鞏固他對(duì)這家陷入困境的公司的控制權(quán)。

Rajeev Misra, SoftBank chief executive, said the deal would close in January, now that an agreement with shareholders had been reached. “We have tremendous confidence in Uber’s leadership and employees and are excited to support Uber as it continues to reinvent how people and goods are transported around the world,” he said.

軟銀首席執(zhí)行官拉吉夫•米斯拉(Rajeev Misra)表示，交易將于明年1月完成，目前已經(jīng)與優(yōu)步的股東們達(dá)成了協(xié)議。他說(shuō)：“我們對(duì)優(yōu)步的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)層和員工有極大的信心，并且為可以在優(yōu)步繼續(xù)重塑世界各地人員出行和商品運(yùn)輸方式的道路上支持優(yōu)步感到興奮。”

Under the terms of the deal, SoftBank will pay about $7.7bn for 15 per cent of Uber’s shares, by purchasing a combination of new and existing shares. The Japanese investment group will also appoint directors to two new seats on Uber’s board.

根據(jù)交易條款，軟銀將斥資77億美元通過(guò)收購(gòu)新發(fā)行和現(xiàn)有的股票獲得優(yōu)步15%的股份。這家日本投資集團(tuán)還將為優(yōu)步董事會(huì)新增的兩個(gè)席位任命兩名董事。

The other members of the consortium, which includes Dragoneer, Tencent, TPG and Sequoia, will together invest roughly $1bn and own about 2.5 per cent of Uber shares. The consortium will own about 17.5 per cent of Uber at closing.

包括Dragoneer、騰訊(Tencent)、TPG、紅杉資本(Sequoia)在內(nèi)的財(cái)團(tuán)其他成員，將共同投資約10億美元，獲得優(yōu)步約2.5%的股份。交易完成后，該財(cái)團(tuán)共計(jì)將持有優(yōu)步約17.5%的股份。

The completion of the tender offer represents the final step in months of negotiations that have often been fractious and at times pitted certain Uber shareholders against others. It is the biggest investment deal ever in a car-booking company.

上述要約收購(gòu)的達(dá)成代表著持續(xù)數(shù)月的談判走完最后一步，此前的談判經(jīng)常不歡而散，不時(shí)導(dǎo)致優(yōu)步某些股東相互掐架。這一交易是叫車(chē)公司有史以來(lái)獲得的規(guī)模最大的一筆投資。

Uber said: “We look forward to working with the purchasers to close the overall transaction, which we expect to support our technology investments, fuel our growth, and strengthen our corporate governance.”

優(yōu)步表示：“我們期待與收購(gòu)方一起完成整個(gè)交易，并預(yù)期此交易能夠支持我們的技術(shù)投資、推動(dòng)我們的增長(zhǎng)并改善我們的公司治理。”

The governance changes will reduce the influence of Uber’s early investors and founders, including former chief executive Travis Kalanick.

此輪公司治理變革將淡化包括前首席執(zhí)行官特拉維斯•卡蘭尼克(Travis Kalanick)在內(nèi)的優(yōu)步早期投資者和創(chuàng)始人的影響。

As well, all super-voting rights will be removed, and Uber’s board will be expanded to 17 seats, including the two new seats for SoftBank. These changes are seen as essential to the agenda of Mr Khosrowshahi, who has been trying to put Uber on a path to initial public offering by October 2019.

此外，所有的超級(jí)投票權(quán)都將廢除，優(yōu)步董事會(huì)將擴(kuò)大至17席，包括給軟銀的兩個(gè)新席位。這些變革被視為霍斯勞沙希議程的關(guān)鍵，后者一直努力推動(dòng)如下計(jì)劃：讓優(yōu)步在2019年10月底之前首次公開(kāi)發(fā)行(IPO)。

The investment by the SoftBank-led consortium is comprised of two tranches. The consortium will buy about $1.25bn of new Uber shares at the same price as the company’s most recent fundraising round, which valued it at $70bn.

軟銀牽頭財(cái)團(tuán)的投資由兩部分構(gòu)成。該財(cái)團(tuán)將以與優(yōu)步最新一輪融資(對(duì)其估值為700億美元)相同的價(jià)格收購(gòu)約12.5億美元的優(yōu)步新發(fā)行股票。

The group will also buy a second, larger tranche of discounted shares from Uber’s existing shareholders, at price of $32.93 per share, which is a 30 per cent discount to Uber’s previous fundraising.

該財(cái)團(tuán)還將以每股32.93美元的價(jià)格，從優(yōu)步現(xiàn)有股東手中收購(gòu)另一筆規(guī)模更大的折扣股票——較優(yōu)步此前的融資估值折讓30%。

The deal is able to move forward now that enough shareholders have elected to sell their shares to SoftBank following Thursday’s deadline. About 15 per cent of Uber’s shares will change hands in the tender offer, which was oversubscribed, said people familiar with the process.

因有足夠多的股東在周四的最后期限前決定將所持股份出售給軟銀，這筆交易如今才得以推進(jìn)。知情人士表示，優(yōu)步約15%的股份將在此次獲超額響應(yīng)的要約收購(gòu)中轉(zhuǎn)手。

While Softbank’s offer price was initially derided as low, recent crises at the company convinced many shareholders that it may be better to cash in on their gains, rather than wait for the expected IPO.

雖然軟銀的出價(jià)最初被嘲諷過(guò)低，但優(yōu)步近來(lái)發(fā)生的種種危機(jī)讓許多股東相信，或許將收益套現(xiàn)比等待預(yù)期中的IPO更好。

The latest setbacks include a ruling against Uber at the European Court of Justice, which declared that the car-booking company must be regulated as a transport company by EU countries.

優(yōu)步最近遭遇的挫折包括歐洲法院(European Court of Justice)作出的一項(xiàng)不利裁決，該裁定宣布這家叫車(chē)公司必須作為一家運(yùn)輸公司接受歐盟各國(guó)監(jiān)管。

In November, the company also disclosed mounting losses, which reached $1.5bn during the third quarter, as well as a massive data breach in 2016 that was covered up for more than a year.

今年11月，優(yōu)步還披露了巨幅虧損，第三季度虧損達(dá)到15億美元。2016年，優(yōu)步還出現(xiàn)過(guò)一次大規(guī)模數(shù)據(jù)泄露事件，且事件被掩蓋了一年多。

As Mr Khosrowshahi has dealt with these and other challenges, he had also faced looming competition from Lyft in the US, and Didi and Ola overseas, which have both been backed by SoftBank.

在處理所有這些挑戰(zhàn)的同時(shí)，霍斯勞沙希在美國(guó)還要應(yīng)對(duì)Lyft的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)、在海外要應(yīng)對(duì)滴滴(Didi)和Ola的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)，后兩者都得到了軟銀的投資。

For Uber, having SoftBank as a cornerstone investor will represent an important stamp of approval from an investment group that has pumped a lot of money into Uber’s rivals over the years.

軟銀成為優(yōu)步的基石投資者，代表著優(yōu)步獲得了一家多年來(lái)向優(yōu)步競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手投入大量資金的投資集團(tuán)實(shí)實(shí)在在的重要認(rèn)可。