Uber's Self-Driving Unit Is For Sale: TechCrunch

Uber Technologies Inc UBER is looking to sell its self-driving unit, TechCrunch has reported.

What Happened: Uber’s Advanced Technologies Group has been negotiating the sale with Aurora Innovation, a self-driving technology startup. According to three people involved in the deal, the discussions started in October, and they are “far along.”

The ATG unit is currently valued at $7.25 billion, with investors like SoftBank Group SFTBF’s Vision Fund and Toyota TM.

Aurora Innovation provides software, data services and hardware, according to the company’s website. It is led by executives who previously worked at Tesla Inc TSLA, Alphabet Inc GOOGL GOOG and Uber.

Why It Matters: Uber has had a turbulent year, with the Q3 earnings report showing an 18% revenue loss.  

Earlier this year, it lost a deal with Chicago-based GrubHub Inc GRUB that would have potentially brought its food delivery business to an international scale. Grubhub partnered instead with a European company, Just Eat Takeaway, in a $7.3. billion deal.

Election Day in California brought the company betters news, though. Voters approved Proposition 22, letting gig-economy employers off the hook when it comes to providing benefits such as sick pay to workers.

Price Action: Uber shares traded at $48.40, with a 1.66% gain, in after-hours markets.

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