NEW YORK: Ride-hailing platform Lyft Inc will launch the investor road show for its initial public offering on Monday, seeking to raise as much as $2 billion and to be valued at more than $20 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.
Lyft will be seeking to convince investors to make large commitments to its IPO, rather than hold out for its larger rival Uber Technologies Inc, which is planning to launch its own public offering next month, the sources said.
Lyft will meet with investors across the United States before pricing the IPO and listing on the Nasdaq at the end of the month, the sources said. It will be pitching itself as a more focused bet on ride-hailing to differentiate itself from Uber, which has diversified to areas such as food delivery and freight hauling and expanded around the world, the sources said.
Uber is seeking a valuation as high as $120 billion at its IPO, although some analysts have pegged it closer to $100 billion based on selected financial figures it has disclosed. Neither Uber nor Lyft are profitable.
Lyft’s IPO will give provide a funding boost as it continues to subsidise rides with promotions to attract passengers. The windfall from the IPO will also help finance investments in areas such as autonomous driving, the sources said.
After a quiet start to the year, technology companies are lining up for public listings as public equity markets hover near historic highs, but remain vulnerable to geopolitical concerns, including tensions over trade agreements and a slowdown in economies including Europe and China.
Other Silicon Valley unicorns — startup companies with valuations of at least $1 billion — including business messaging company Slack Technologies Inc and image-sharing company Pinterest Inc, are waiting in the wings to go public later in 2019, sources have said.
Lyft’s IPO will mark the first time a ride-hailing company has debuted on the US public markets. Lyft launched in 2012 and is led by its founders, Logan Green and John Zimmer.
The ride-hailing industry, which touted $36.5 billion in sales globally in 2017, is expected to grow rapidly in the coming years, but is fraught with questions about the future of automated driving, regulatory pushback and legal challenges over drivers’ pay and benefits. — Reuters
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
