New York - Uber is seeking $1.25bn in its second foray in the US leveraged loan market, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The ride-hailing company has begun approaching loan investors directly to borrow the funds, instead of going through banks, and has scheduled a March 9 meeting to discuss the financing, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public.
Uber last tapped the loan market in 2016 for a $1.15bn loan, a deal that was arranged by Morgan Stanley.
An Uber spokesperson confirmed the loan plan late on Wednesday.
Uber, which posted an annual loss of $4.5bn this month, is an atypical issuer for the loan market where decisions on how much to lend are typically tied to borrower debt ratios using earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation, or Ebitda.
Uber’s adjusted pro-forma Ebitda for the fourth quarter was negative $475m, according to documents seen by Bloomberg.
The company is tapping a very receptive loan market where investors are willing to gobble up new deals. Uber was given a blended valuation of $54bn by a SoftBank-led investor group. That makes it the biggest venture-backed technology enterprise without a stock listing.
In addition to the 2016 loan, Uber also has a $2.2bn credit line, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
* Sign up to Fin24's top news in your inbox: SUBSCRIBE TO FIN24 NEWSLETTER