Uber ‘on track’ for IPO in 2019

Uber CEO Dara
Khosrowshahi.
Getty

• Uber says it’s ‘on track’ for an IPO in
  2019. 
• Investors have expressed that
  they want Uber to sell its self-driving car unit, but
  CEO Dara Khosrowshahi says the company has no plans to do
  so. 
• Uber’s incoming CFO had previously expressed skepticism
  about the likelihood of a 2019 IPO. 

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Uber Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi said
on Wednesday the ride-hailing company was on track to launch an
initial public offering next year and had no plans to sell its
self-driving car research arm.

Khosrowshahi told Reuters in an interview that the company was
not planning to sell its Advanced Technologies Group, which
develops the company’s self-driving car technology, “at this
time.” Investors have
reportedly pressed Uber to sell off that unit and focus on
its core ride-hailing business as it marches towards IPO.

“Ultimately, it is a big asset that we are building and we can
monetize that in whatever way we want to. It’s not something
we’re thinking about it at this point,” he said. Khosrowshahi
also said the company was “quite optimistic” the company would be
able to resume testing of self-driving cars later this year after
a fatal crash involving an autonomous Uber car in Tempe, Arizona
in March.

In August, incoming Uber CFO Nelson Chai said that he
wasn’t necessarily on board for a 2019 IPO. However, a
spokesperson for the company told Business Insider that the
company was still on track for that timetable — a timetable now
reinforced by Khosrowshahi.