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11.04.19 8 FOREIGN NEWS UBER Technologies Inc has decided it will seek to sell around $10 billion worth of stock in its initial public offering and will make public the registration of the offering on ursday. An IPO of this size would make Uber one of the biggest technology IPOs of all time, and the largest since that of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd in 2014. Uber is seeking a valuation of between $90 billion and $100 billion, influenced by the poor performance of smaller rival Lyft Inc's shares following its IPO late last month, the sources said. Investment bankers previously told Uber it could be worth as much as $120 billion. Uber most recently was valued at $76 bil- lion in the private fundraising market. Most of the shares sold would be issued by the company, while a smaller portion would be owned by Uber investors cashing out, one of the sources said. Uber plans to make its IPO registration with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Com- mission publicly available today, and will kick of its investor roadshow during the week of April 29, putting it on track to price its IPO and begin trading on the New York Stock Ex- change in early May, sources said. Uber seeks to raise $10bn through IPO European Central Bank leaves interest rates unchanged THE European Central Bank decided yester- day to keep the interest rates unchanged. e interest rate on the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the mar- ginal lending facility and the deposit facility will remain unchanged at 0.00%, 0.25% and -0.40% respectively, the ECB's press release read. Policymakers said they intend to hold the rates at present levels "at least through the end of 2019" or for as long as it takes to se- cure sustained convergence of inflation to levels below, but nevertheless close to, 2% in the medium run. e Governing Council will keep reinvest- ing the cash from maturing securities pur- chased under the asset purchase programme "past the date when it starts raising key ECB interest rates," the release read. e programme was introduced in March 2015, when the bank bought more than 2.6 trillion euros in assets to curb deflationary forces and rebuild confidence in the euro area. ATHENEUM'S London office has seen incredible expansion since opening in 2014, now making up 41% of the company's global reve- nue. In an industry valued at over $5bn and a part of the global $200bn In- formation Services market, the UK is proving to be Atheneum's most lucrative market. Atheneum's agile approach to lev- eraging the insights of over 400,000 credible industry experts helps top renowned investment firms, leading global corporations and well-known professional service firms to make informed business decisions by pro- viding access to faster insights and better data. Atheneum's advanced technology platform relies on the power of its network, unlocking access to indus- try experts all over the world. e investment led by Crosslantic Capital tech growth investors will back Atheneum's plans for an addi- tional 50% growth and further de- velop the platform's technology. Headquartered in Berlin, Athe- neum has achieved rapid expansion to ten offices around the world in- cluding London and Munich in Eu- rope, New York in the US, Santiago in Chile, Lahore in Pakistan, and Shanghai, Seoul, Hong Kong and Tokyo in Asia. Currently employing 180 people, the new investment will help to grow the Atheneum team to over 250 staff globally, as well as en- ter into new markets. Ammad Ahmad, co-founder and managing director at Atheneum said, "e investment in our tech- nology will future-proof our plat- form as the leading source of expert knowledge in a wide range of indus- tries such as consumer goods and services, healthcare and technology, to name a few. We fully understand the challenges our clients face when conducting primary research and Atheneum's technology leverages the power of its network to unlock access to reliable and relevant infor- mation quickly and securely." Leonard Clemens of Crosslantic Capital said, "Atheneum is an ag- ile, innovative and forward-think- ing business and we're excited to be a part of it. We always look for businesses that have the potential to become market leaders in their space and believe Atheneum brings a disruptive element to the world of market intelligence. e business has already revolutionised the sec- tor and we feel there is huge scope for growth for Atheneum in the coming years." Latest funding round of €10m for Atheneum, Europe's leading global intelligence platform, follows rapid growth of the business, achieving a 60% year-on-year revenue growth in the UK 10 million euros raised by global intelligence platform

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