A consortium led by SoftBank has reached an agreement to acquire more than 17% of Uber for about $9bn, after shareholders elected to sell their shares at a discounted price. The deal exposed a shortfall in shareholder confidence in the group, as the offering from SoftBank was oversubscribed by existing shareholders. However, Uber has slumped to a $49bn valuation – down some 30%. The deal has been confirmed just a few weeks after the European Court of Justice (ECJ) dealt Uber a blow, by reclassifying it as a transport services company, as opposed to what it currently considers itself – an “information society service”. The case arose after Uber was told to obey local taxi rules in Barcelona. The ECJ…