Uber Tender Gives Employees Chance to Realize Profits

Uber is expected to sign an agreement with SoftBank later Wednesday paving the way for the start of a tender offer for Uber shares that could be worth $8.5 billion.

The offer is a big deal for Uber investors, including some of its 16,000 employees. While private tech firms often run tender offers to give employees and other shareholders an opportunity to sell, Uber has heavily restricted shareholders from selling. Uber is expected to let employees sell up to half of their shares, as long as they own a minimum of 10,000 shares, said a person familiar with the situation. The cap also applies to Uber’s board members, which means investors with board representatives like Benchmark can only sell half its stock. Former employees are not limited in what they can sell, this person said.