Report: Uber Seeks $1 Billion Credit Line; Could Presage IPO

Uber Technologies Inc. wants to obtain a bank credit line worth a $1 billion in a development that could presage an initial public offering for the ride-sharing concern. About a half-dozen large banks are expected to form a lending consortium to provide the credit, according to a report Friday in The Wall Street Journal. http://www.wsj.com/articles/uber-in-talks-for-1-billion-credit-facility-with-banks-1432265901 Negotiating a credit line "often signals the early stages of preparation for an IPO," the newspaper said, noting that as it helps cement relationships with banks. An offering isn't expected, however, "until next year at the earliest," according to the report, citing "people familiar with the matter." The credit facility won't fund Uber's day-to-day business, according to the report, which noted rumors that Uber is mulling a bid on the mapping unit that Nokia Corp.

has said it may sell. Uber is in separate talks to raise a new round of financing that could value the the company at $50 billion, according to several reports earlier this month. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/09/technology/uber-fund-raising-points-to-50-billion-valuation.html At a $50 billion valuation, Uber would be the world's most valuable private start-up, topping the Chinese electronics maker Xiaomi, which was last valued at $45 billion, according to the New York Times. Uber figured prominently in a separate debate published Friday in the Times on whether venture capitalists have overvalued privately held tech companies. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/23/technology/overvalued-in-silicon-valley-but-not-the-word-that-must-not-be-uttered.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news Also citing the $10 billion data analysis company Palantir Technologies and the $2.8 billion corporate messaging service Slack, the article sought to define the term "bubble." "It's a complicated social phenomenon that gets people into trouble, just like smoking too much and drinking too much," Nobel Laureate, economist Robert J. Shiller told the Times.