The ride-hailing app, which has already dashed the taxi industry worldwide with its secure operational service and flexible approach towards its customers, has finally made its appearance amongst other Wall Street giants in one of the biggest initial public offerings in history, ranking in the top ten IPOs with the highest valuation according to preliminary data.
Reportedly, Uber Technologies Inc.’s market valuation amounts to a $75.5 billion after Thursday’s IPO was settled. Combining that data with Uber’s performance in restricted stock units and other more specific shares offerings, the diluted valuation amounts to a near $82 billion, which is still below the general preliminary forecasts for an IPO exceeding $100 billion.
According to the Bloomberg terminal, the company managed to sell 180 million shares at $45 each, which fell short of the initial forecast, and yet financial specialists already weigh in on the future consequences for Uber’s underlying decision to target particular investor groups.
Conforming to people familiar with the matter, the company aimed to attract almost exclusively institutional investors as the preferred integral part of its new core of shareholders, which are thought to have more long-term ambitions and are less likely to flood in and then flood out of the market. Uber intends to avoid the risks of high liquidity during its first few months on the market, and the experiences of its rival company Lyft Inc. which suffered from intensified price speculation, as its share price plummeted with more than 20% in the first few days after its IPO.
Many financial analysts are considering this bold move on Uber’s part, as a carefully deliberated strategy that is going to compensate for the arguable initial underperformance with sustained growth in the longer-term. Uber could have quite easily attracted more capital for its IPO and even surpass the initial forecasts for $100 billion market valuation, however, that would have meant appealing to riskier investors, who are ultimately less likely to stay on-board for a long time. It is yet to be seen whether the company’s decision to relinquish “easy” capital from its IPO for more steady investments in the long-term is going to have the desired effect.