It looks like Lyft will be the first U.S.-based ride-hailing company to go public, according to a Reuters report.
The San Francisco-based startup is planning to launch a two-week roadshow for its initial public offering (IPO) during the week of March 18, people familiar with the matter said today, as cited by Reuters.
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Lyft and rival Uber have been in an unofficial race to debut on the stock market. But Uber reportedly needs more time to prep, according to Reuters sources.
“The two IPOs being far apart could allow Lyft to pitch investors without fretting about being overshadowed by Uber,” Reuters wrote.
The news is not entirely a surprise considering that in early December, Lyft – the smaller half of America’s ride-hailing duopoly— confidentially filed a draft S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission just days before Uber’s own filing. Lyft is expecting a valuation of between $20 billion and $25 billion in its IPO, according to Reuters. Last October, our EIC Alex Wilhelm wrote about how a Lyft IPO could value the company at more than $15 billion compared to an estimated valuation of $120 billion for Uber. He also pointed out that both companies are “deeply unprofitable,” with Lyft being even more unprofitable than Uber at least on a percent-of-revenue basis.
Since its inception in May 2012, Lyft has raised over $4.91 billion in venture funding. Its most recent outside funding, a $600 million Series I round closed this past June, valued the company at $15.1 billion post-money.
Illustration: Li-Anne Dias
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