Uber nears investment deal for self-driving car unit

[BENGALURU] Uber Technologies Inc is nearing a deal with a group, including SoftBank Group Corp, to invest in its self-driving car unit to be valued at US$7.25 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

SoftBank, Toyota Motor Corp and Japan-based auto-parts supplier Denso Corp are expected to invest a total of US$1 billion as part of the deal, which could be announced in the next few days, the report said.

SoftBank closed its US$8 billion investment in Uber in January 2018, which gave it a 16 per cent stake in the ride-hailing company and made it the largest shareholder.

Uber is getting ready for its initial public offering (IPO) and filed for it last week.

Toyota and Denso declined to comment, while Uber and SoftBank did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment.

REUTERS