> it has no effect on the current valuation at all
Agreed, this statement was probably a little strong. But certainly it doesn't represent a new $48B valuation as the article suggests.
I suppose I'm objecting to the implied suggestion that Uber is having a down round (a few other commenters have jumped on that) because of the negative public sentiment they are copping at the moment. It's not like Uber needs cash right now, and I really doubt the board would approve a deal which brought their valuation down for the sake of money they don't need.
The headline was certainly provocative and misleading. Could interpret this as a bit of signaling risk with early investors cashing out at a discount, but I don't think that's fair. There isn't really precedent for a $4B+ non m&a or IPO liquidity event for private company shareholders. The liquidity discount that private equity investors use is typically 20-30%, so now that I think about it the 30% discount seems like a logical liquidity discount to anchor on
Agreed, this statement was probably a little strong. But certainly it doesn't represent a new $48B valuation as the article suggests.
I suppose I'm objecting to the implied suggestion that Uber is having a down round (a few other commenters have jumped on that) because of the negative public sentiment they are copping at the moment. It's not like Uber needs cash right now, and I really doubt the board would approve a deal which brought their valuation down for the sake of money they don't need.