Uber Technologies Inc's board members have agreed to allow a multibillion-dollar investment by SoftBank Group Corp., which would resolve a legal battle between former Chief Executive Travis Kalanick and a prominent shareholder.
Venture capital firm Benchmark, an early investor with a board seat in the ride-services company, and Kalanick have reached an agreement over terms of the SoftBank investment, which could be worth up to $10 billion.
The Uber board first agreed more than a month ago to bring in SoftBank as an investor and board member, but negotiations have been slowed by ongoing fighting between Benchmark and Kalanick.
"We've entered into an agreement with a consortium led by SoftBank and Dragoneer on a potential investment," Uber said.
Japanese conglomerate SoftBank is joined by Dragoneer Investment Group in leading a consortium of investors that plans to invest $1 billion to $1.25 billion in Uber, and in addition, will buy up to 17 percent of existing shares from investors and employees in a secondary transaction.
Uber is trying to move on after a year of controversy, including the resignation of Kalanick, the ouster of several top executives, sexual harassment and discrimination allegations, and multiple federal criminal probes.