谷歌會投資Uber嗎?
????《財富》雜志(Fortune)獲悉,打車應(yīng)用Uber提前進行談判,希望通過新一輪融資從幾位不太尋常的投資者那里募集至少1.5億美元。
????此次融資預(yù)計將由私募股權(quán)公司德州太平洋集團(Texas Pacific Group,TPG)牽頭。德州太平洋集團擊敗了其他幾家競爭對手,而且此次交易也是該公司少數(shù)幾個不包括過半數(shù)所有權(quán)的投資。實際上,此次交易甚至可能無法達成,因為Uber要求的投資前估值超過了30億美元。另外一種可能是,所有或部分投資由TPG的增長型股權(quán)子公司提供。 ????除了現(xiàn)有的股東外,如基準資本(Benchmark),谷歌風投(Google Ventures)預(yù)計也會參與投資。這也有些不同尋常,因為谷歌風投通常只投資規(guī)模較小、處于發(fā)展早期的公司。這也是為什么我當初聽成 “谷歌資本”會參與投資的原因——因為“谷歌資本”主要投資成熟企業(yè),尤其是因為“谷歌資本”最近挖走了TPG的合伙人基尼?弗朗茨——但事實似乎并非如此(另:之所以在“谷歌資本”打引號,因為嚴格來說,這個部門目前還沒有出現(xiàn)……)。 ????這樣的組合對于這樣一筆交易確實非常有意思。雖然很少有傳統(tǒng)風投企業(yè)會牽頭如此大規(guī)模的融資。而且,谷歌(Google)投資Uber也是出于自身的戰(zhàn)略思考——尤其是公司最近收購了社交地圖應(yīng)用Waze(雖然谷歌風投在這家科技巨頭內(nèi)是一個獨立的部門)。 ????特拉維斯?卡蘭尼克是Uber創(chuàng)始人兼CEO,他并不打算在此次交易中出售所持有的任何股份。雖然公司在虧損,但只要Uber達到一定的規(guī)模,個別地區(qū)性市場就能夠?qū)崿F(xiàn)盈利。公司的毛利率預(yù)計為訂車費用的20%至30%。 ????不過,當前的形勢并不確定,因為卡蘭尼克在周二晚上曾向我暗示,我所聽說的大部分信息都是“內(nèi)部消息”(雖然我當初并沒有披露所了解到的具體細節(jié))。但昨天,在風險投資協(xié)議電子郵件的細節(jié)被報道之后,我獲得了更多的信息來源,而且我可以確認這就是整個事件的現(xiàn)狀。 ????今天上午,AllThingsD也報道了TPG和谷歌風投參與投資的消息。 ????但TPG與谷歌風投都拒絕發(fā)表評論。(財富中文網(wǎng)) ????譯者:劉進龍/汪皓? |
????On-demand ride service Uber is in advanced talks to raise at least $150 million in a new round of funding from some unusual sources, Fortune has learned. ????Private equity firm Texas Pacific Group is expected to lead the round after beating out several other bidders, in one of its very few deals that would not include majority ownership. In fact, it wouldn't even be close since Uber is asking for a pre-money valuation well north of $3 billion. There also is a possibility that some, or all, of the investment could come from TPG's growth equity affiliate. ????Google Ventures also is expected to participate, alongside certain existing shareholders like Benchmark. This also is a bit unusual, given that Google Ventures typically invests in smaller, earlier-stage companies. That's probably why I originally heard were that the later-stage "Google Capital" would invest – particularly since it recently poached TPG partner Gene Franz – but that does not seem to be the case (btw: quotation marks around "Google Capital," since that unit doesn't technically exist… yet). ????Certainly an interesting pairing for this type of deal, although few traditional VC firms could lead a deal of this size and there clearly is strategic wisdom in Google (GOOG) getting tighter with Uber – particularly after its recent Waze acquisition (even though Google Ventures runs as an independent unit within the tech giant). ????Uber founder and CEO Travis Kalanick is not planning to sell any of his own shares in this transaction. The overall company loses money, but individual geographic markets are profitable once Uber achieves a certain level of scale. Its revenue margins are estimated at between 20% and 30% of bookings. ????This is still a fluid situation, with Kalanick suggesting to me on Tuesday night that much of what I'm hearing comes from an "echo chamber" (albeit without me having first disclosed specifics of what I'd heard). But I got a bit more sourcing done after originally reporting some of these details in yesterday's Term Sheet email, and am comfortable that this is where things currently stand. ????AllThingsD also is reporting the TPG and Google Ventures involvement this morning. ????Both TPG and Google Ventures declined to comment. |
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