Uber raises $1.15 billion in leveraged loan

Uber has closed a $1.15 billion leveraged loan, with a 5 percent yield, bringing the total equity and debt raised by the ride-hailing mobile app to more than $15 billion, claim reports circulating from The Wall Street Journal.

This figure is on the lower side of previous estimates that said that Uber had plans to raise $1-2 billion in leveraged loans. Uber initially targeted a 4-4.5 percent yield but had to settle on 5 percent. In the last month, the company brought in $4.65 billion in capital from debt and equity investments.

A $3.5 billion equity round from the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund preceded this leveraged loan led by Morgan Stanley. The loan also contained money from Barclays PLC, Citigroup Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc according to the Wall Street Journal source.

All the capital originates from multinational institutions. This hints that CEO Travis Kalanick plans to add the money to his growing war-chest to fight Chinese ride-sharing rival DidiChuxing.

Uber likely opted for the leveraged loan to avoid further dilution. The company has little in collateral to comfort bankers issuing debt.

Uber hasn’t commented on the reports as yet. We’ll keep you posted with further updates.