Uber looking to sell Didi, other non-strategic stakes, CEO says

(Reuters) - The CEO of Uber Technologies Inc said on Tuesday the company was looking sell stakes in what it considers non-strategic investments in other companies, including its shares in Chinese ride hailing company Didi Global Inc.

Speaking at a virtual fireside chat with a UBS analyst, Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi said many of the companies in which Uber has a stake have recently gone public and are still subject to a lockup period.

While Khosrowshahi said Uber would continue to hold some stakes for strategic reasons, it was looking to sell many of them, including in Didi.

“Our Didi stake we don’t believe is strategic. They’re a competitor,” the Uber CEO said.

Khosrowshahi said the company was in no rush to sell the shares. “Those kinds of stakes we look to monetize smartly over time,” he said.

Uber shares rose 4.3% to close at $37.26 after Khosrowshahi’s remarks on Tuesday. He also said Uber last week had its best week ever in terms of company-wide gross bookings at its ride-hail and food delivery operations.

But overall, ride-hail trips remained around 10% below pre-pandemic levels, the CEO said.

Uber had roughly $13.1 billion tied up in investments in other companies as of the end of the third quarter, including $4.1 billion in Didi.

Some investors have grown concerned that Uber holding on to these investments sends a signal to the market that stakes in other companies are more attractive than putting freed-up capital into Uber’s own operations.

Uber’s operational business last quarter for the first time achieved profitability on an adjusted earnings basis, but its Didi stake drove a $2.4 billion net loss in the third quarter.

Shares of Didi are down around 53% from their June 30 IPO price.

Under pressure from Chinese regulators, Didi earlier this month said it would withdraw from the U.S. stock exchange and pursue a Hong Kong listing.

Didi and Uber, both backed by Japanese conglomerate Softbank Group Corp, in 2016 struck a deal under which Uber exited the Chinese market and sold its China business to Didi in exchange for equity.

Uber also holds stakes in Indian food delivery company Zomato, Southeast Asian rival Grab, self-driving company Aurora Innovation Inc and others. Grab and Aurora are also backed by Softbank.