New York: Uber Technologies Inc is seeking $1.25 billion (Dh4.6 billion) in its second foray in the US leveraged loan market, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

The ride-hailing company has begun approaching loan investors directly to borrow the funds, instead of going through banks, and has scheduled a March 9 meeting to discuss the financing, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public. Uber last tapped the loan market in 2016 for a $1.15 billion loan, a deal that was arranged by Morgan Stanley.

An Uber spokesman confirmed the loan plan late Wednesday.

Uber, which posted an annual loss of $4.5 billion this month, is an atypical issuer for the loan market where decisions on how much to lend are typically tied to borrower debt ratios using earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation, or Ebitda. Uber’s adjusted pro-forma Ebitda for the fourth quarter was negative $475 million, according to documents seen by Bloomberg.

The company is tapping a very receptive loan market where investors are willing to gobble up new deals. Uber was given a blended valuation of $54 billion by a SoftBank Group Corp-led investor group. That makes it the biggest venture-backed technology enterprise without a stock listing.

In addition to the 2016 loan, Uber also has a $2.2 billion credit line, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Factbox: Former Uber CEO Kalanick to start fund called ‘10100’

Travis Kalanick, the former Uber chief executive, announced on Wednesday in a Twitter post that he is going to start an investment fund called 10100. The overarching theme of the new fund, pronounced “ten-one-hundred”, will be to invest in real estate, eCommerce and emerging innovation in China and India, Kalanick said in a tweet. The fund will oversee for-profit investments as well as non-profit work and focus on education and future of cities, Kalanick said. Twitter was abuzz with speculation behind the meaning of the new fund’s name. One user suggested that it could be a reference “Googol” or “10 to the power 100.” Kalanick was not immediately available to respond to additional queries regarding his new venture.

Kalanick, co-founder the San Francisco-based ride hailing start-up Uber, resigned in June under pressure from investors after a string of setbacks.

— Reuters