Tech

SoftBank reportedly seeking Uber stake valued at billions

Key Points
  • SoftBank has approached Uber about taking a multi-billion-dollar stake in the ride-sharing company, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources
  • That would follow SoftBank's recent investment in Singapore-based ride-sharing company GrabTaxi
Uber's headquarters in San Francisco, California.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images

Japanese tech titan SoftBank has approached Uber about taking a multi-billion dollar stake in the ride-sharing company, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

SoftBank has already invested in three ride-sharing companies in Asia: Grab in Singapore, Ola in India and Didi Chuxing Technology in China, the report noted.

According to the report, the sources said SoftBank's talks with Uber were preliminary and any deal would likely need to wait for the ride-sharing company to hire a new chief executive, which was likely weeks away.

The Journal added that an Uber spokesman had declined to comment on the story, and that SoftBank didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

On Monday, Grab said it expected to raise about $2.5 billion in fresh funds from Didi Chuxing, Softbank and others to bolster dominance in the region and grow its fledging mobile payments business.

For more about the potential deal, see the Wall Street Journal article.

—Saheli Roy Choudhury contributed to this article.