Morgan Stanley to spearhead Uber IPO

An IPO (Initial Public Offering) is one of the most important milestones for a company. After a company goes public, an average person can buy shares of the company and with a big enough stake, even get a seat on the board. The ride-hailing giant Uber is already valued at an astounding $72 billion and is one of the largest privately held corporations in the world. Rumors of its IPO have been circulating for quite some time now. However, with its public offering coming closer, the San Francisco based cab hailing company has picked Morgan Stanley to lead its IPO. The public listing is expected to elevate Uber’s valuation to a staggering $120 billion. When that happens, this initial public offering will be the largest in history.

Morgan Stanley had also underwritten the IPO for other tech giants such as Facebook and handled Facebook’s acquisition of WhatsApp. Numerous experts agree that Morgan Stanley has definitely been the go-to bank for tech corporations in order to underwrite their public offerings. This offering is sure to make big money for several investors, small and large, Softbank and Tencent. Goldman Sachs was also in the running to bag Uber’s IPO, however, the ride-hailing company choose Morgan Stanley.

One of Uber’s major competitors is Lyft, which is also set to go public. Lyft’s IPO would be underwritten by JPMorgan Chase & Co and will have a valuation between $15 billion and $20 billion.

China’s Alibaba held the record for the largest IPO, with a valuation of $25 billion, a small fraction of what Uber would be valued at.