Uber Is Said to Propose Lower Rate on Leveraged Loan From 2016
Uber Is Said to Propose Lower Rate on Leveraged Loan From 2016
(Bloomberg) -- Uber Technologies is seeking to lower the interest rate on a $1.13 billion term loan it obtained two years ago to a range of 350 basis points to 375 basis points more than Libor, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The ride-sharing company revealed the terms to lenders during a call arranged today by Morgan Stanley, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public. The loan, which matures in 2023, currently pays 400 basis point more than Libor. That’s the same rate Uber pays on other $1.5 billion loan, which is due in 2025.
When Uber came to the leveraged loan market for the other financing earlier this year, it was met with so much investor enthusiasm that it boosted the loan from an initial $1.25 billion and lowered pricing to 400 basis points more than Libor from a proposed margin of 425 basis points to 450 basis points.
That left Uber paying the same interest rate on two loans with different maturities, which is atypical. If the current repricing proposal is successful, Uber will be able to remove that spread difference.
The refinancing comes a day after Bloomberg News reported that talks of a possible $3 billion investment by Warren Buffett in Uber fell apart. Earlier this month, Uber recorded a $2.5 billion quarterly profit, but only on paper after accounting for the value of selling its Southeast Asian business to Grab and its Russian business to Yandex. Without those sales, the San Francisco company had a loss of $312 million before interest, taxes and other expenses.
Representatives for Uber and Morgan Stanley declined to comment.
To contact the reporter on this story: Lisa Lee in New York at llee299@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: James Crombie at jcrombie8@bloomberg.net, Faris Khan, Christopher DeReza
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