优步即将上市的另一征兆

    《华尔街日报》称，中国的高瓴资本正在牵头发起对优步的新一轮投资，总额可能高达10亿美元。根据双方签订的可转债协议，投资人可将债券以低于公司IPO发行价的价格转换为优步的股份。这样一来，优步越是迟迟不上市，投资人的回报就越高，这为优步尽快启动上市计划增加了时间压力。今年1月，优步曾以类似的交易框架，从高盛财富管理部门筹资约16亿美元。

    高瓴资本的进入之所以引起人们的关注，原因有两个：一是这家总部位于北京的企业是亚洲最大的基金管理公司之一，管理的资产超过了200亿美元；二是高瓴资本此前投资技术公司获得了丰厚的回报，其中包括腾讯。

    与这种知名公司合作也有助于优步实现其做大中国业务的雄心壮志。本月早些时候，公司首席执行官特拉维斯·卡兰尼克在一封流传出来的邮件中表示，优步将投入10亿美元以扩张中国业务，这是公司目前的“头号任务”。目前，它已在全球300多个城市展开运营。

    因为高瓴资本也是滴滴快的的投资者，该交易引发了一些争议。滴滴快滴是中国最大的叫车应用，也是优步在中国的主要竞争对手，高瓴资本投资优步的消息可能会让滴滴快的感到不安。此外，多家亚洲科技网站此前在一份消费者报告中称，2014年1月至2015年5月期间，从滴滴快的应用中泄漏的客户数据要多于优步。（财富中文网）

    翻译：Charlie

    审校：夏林

    Chinese fund manager Hillhouse Capital Group is leading an investment in the ride-sharing company that could reach around $1 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal. The convertible bond deal involves buying bonds that can be converted into shares at a discount to the company’s IPO price. The longer it takes for Uber to go public, the greater the return for investors, providing a time-laden incentive for the company to launch an IPO soon. Uber had previously raised around $1.6 billion from the wealth-management division of Goldman Sachs GS -1.82% in a very similar deal in January.

    The entrance of Hillhouse is also notable for two reasons: The Beijing-based firm is one of the biggest fund managers in Asia, overseeing assets in excess of $20 billion; and Hillhouse’s previous investments in technology firms, such as China’s Tencent Holdings, have paid off.

    Working with such a prominent firm also plays well with Uber’s ambitions to go big in China. Earlier this month, CEO Travis Kalanick said in an email that went public that the company’s global team was spending $1 billion on expanding into China, making it the company’s “number one priority”. Uber already operates in around 300 cities.

    The deal should also send confusing signals to Didi Kuaidi, the largest taxi-hailing app in China, and, by definition, Uber’s biggest competitor. Hillhouse is also an investor in the Chinese startup, and this latest news will worry them. This comes after tech sites in Asia highlighted a consumer report that Didi Kuadi had experienced more customer data leaks from taxi apps between January of 2014 and May of 2015 in China when compared to Uber.