Benzinga | Nov 14, 2020 02:03PM EST

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

Uber Technologies Inc (NYSE: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 (OTC:SFTBF)'s Vision Fund and Toyota (NYSE: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 (NASDAQ:TSLA), Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ: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 (NYSE: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.

Image Source: Wikicommons