Uber sells self-driving car unit to Aurora and takes start-up stake after pandemic crushes revenue
- By adding Uber’s self-driving car unit, Aurora will gain hundreds of engineers and access to one of the world’s largest ride-hailing networks
- In exchange for investing US$400 million in Aurora, Uber will get a 26 per cent ownership stake in the company
The deal will value Aurora at US$10 billion, according to people familiar with the talks who asked not to be identified discussing private information. In exchange for investing US$400 million in Aurora, Uber will get a 26 per cent ownership stake in the company.
That number increases to 40 per cent when counting the stakes held by the employees and investors of Uber’s autonomous driving division. Uber chief executive officer Dara Khosrowshahi and one other yet-to-be-named person representing Uber will join Aurora’s board.
The price tag is a comedown for Uber, whose self-driving division, Advanced Technologies Group (ATG), raised money last year at a US$7.25 billion valuation. The agreement with Aurora values the unit at just US$4 billion, following Uber’s investment. The deal, expected to close during the first quarter, also guarantees that when Aurora releases its self-driving vehicles, they will launch on Uber’s network.
Shares of Uber fell were mostly unchanged in after-hours trading Monday. The stock closed at US$53.80 in New York and has jumped 81 per cent this year.
By adding Uber’s self-driving car unit, Aurora will gain hundreds of engineers and access to one of the world’s largest ride-hailing networks. For Uber, which has slashed high-profile cash-burning initiatives this year in a push to turn a profit in 2021, the deal will give it a significant stake in one of Silicon Valley’s most promising autonomous driving start-ups.