A Look Back At The Billion Dollar Leveraged Loans To Uber and Airbnb

In this day and age you can burn and lose cash at alarming rates, while breaking laws (not just breaking, out right colluding) and still take out a loan larger than most can comprehend and pay a coupon at 5% a year. That is America. That is capital markets. God bless it so long as it does not explode and effect anyone.

Uber Technologies Inc. has raised $1.15 billion from a new high-yield loan, according to a person familiar with the matter, as the ride-hailing company stockpiles cash to ward off regulatory and competitive threats around the world. The new leveraged loan, Uber’s first, brings the amount raised in debt and equity to more than $15 billion and helps its existing shareholder base avoid stock dilution. Uber will pay a yield of about 5% on the leveraged loan, this person said. The Wall Street Journal first reported last month that Uber hired banks to issue debt of up to $2 billion with a yield of 4% to 4.5%. Uber’s loan was arranged by four banks, with Morgan Stanley leading and Barclays PLC, Citigroup Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. participating, according to the person. See @ WSJ

The LA Times compared it to a "junk bond"

Airbnb did a similar deal despite losing over $100M. Losing tremendous amounts of money does not matter when you are risking it all on what? How on earth can Uber or Airbnb ever get more valuable? The short answer is that - unless we are surprised - it will not.

"Airbnb Inc. secured a $1 billion debt facility from some of the largest U.S. banks to help the home-sharing company develop new services and fund growth initiatives, people familiar with the matter said. The debt deal was led by JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp. Airbnb, last valued at $25.5 billion, has watched Uber Technologies Inc. raise more than $11 billion in cash and debt. That number could climb by at least $1 billion when Uber, worth almost $68 billion, closes its latest debt financing" @ Bloomberg