Benchmark, Menlo Ventures to sell some shares to SoftBank as part of tender; Uber shareholders have 20 days to sell at $48B valuation, or wait for IPO in 2019
Theodore Schleifer / Recode :
Context & Ripple Effects
This tender is the endpoint of an effort Benchmark started months ago: sources reported in July that Benchmark had initiated discussions to sell Uber stock to SoftBank even before the CEO's ouster, and by November the structure had firmed up as a $1B primary investment at Uber's current valuation paired with a large secondary tender. What changed today is execution — Benchmark and Menlo Ventures are named sellers, and every Uber shareholder gets a 20-day window to decide.
The decision is framed as a haircut versus patience: sell at a $48B valuation now, well below the marks discussed earlier this year, or hold for an IPO targeted in 2019.
First-order effects
- Benchmark and Menlo Ventures convert part of their illiquid Uber stakes into cash at a $48B valuation, crystallizing losses against the higher private marks SoftBank was reportedly discussing in August.
- All other Uber shareholders face the same binary choice inside 20 days: accept the discounted price or stay locked until a 2019 IPO that may not price better.
Second-order effects
- SoftBank emerges holding a large block of Uber stock bought largely from insiders rather than on the open market, giving it leverage over governance and any future financing terms.
- The $48B clearing price becomes a public reference point that reprices Uber relative to its last round, pressuring how employees and later investors value their holdings.
Third-order effects
- If late-stage investors keep taking discounted secondaries over IPO risk, big buyers like SoftBank become the de facto liquidity layer for venture portfolios — a widening of the gap between private paper valuations and what insiders can actually realize.
- A successful tender here sets a template other overvalued unicorns and their backers will copy when IPO windows look distant.
The trend: Late-stage startup liquidity is shifting from IPO-or-wait to structured secondary tenders led by deep-pocketed strategics like SoftBank, which buy insider stakes at discounts to the last private mark.