Ride-hailing app Lyft set to raise $2bn in New York float
Ride-hailing platform Lyft expects to raise as much as $2bn (£1.5bn) when it floats on the New York Stock Exchange later this month.
In a filing the firm said its initial public offering (IPO) will consist of 30.7m shares priced between $62 and $68, meaning it could raise a total of $2.4bn.
Read more: Lyft set to court investors ahead of Wall St float
At the higher end of the range, Lyft would have a market valuation of $19.6bn. The firm was hoping to secure a valuation of more than $20bn, Reuters reported yesterday, citing people familiar with the matter.
After the float, co-founders Logan Green and John Zimmer will hold more than 48 per cent of the voting power of the firm’s stock, granting them significant influence over any decisions requiring shareholder approval.
Lyft yesterday launched its investor roadshow, travelling across the US to meet with investors before finalising its IPO price. The firm is said to be heading out on a charm offensive to convince investors to back its own IPO, rather than wait for that of its larger rival Uber later this year.
Lyft pulled in revenues of $2.2bn last year, but fell to a loss of $911m. The firm now boasts 39 per cent market share in the US ride-hailing sector, and will be hoping to divert more business from arch-rival Uber in the coming year.
Read more: Lyft files for IPO ahead of rival Uber
Stuart Bedford, partner at Linklaters, said: “Whilst the business models of tech companies such as Lyft are well understood, they remain difficult to value.
“The fact is that they are not ‘steady state’ businesses, they are all still driving for significant further growth and the battle being fought in the ride-hailing space means it remains hard to predict future revenues.”
Lyft’s IPO will be the first among a string of tech companies heading to Wall Street this year, with others including workplace messaging app Slack and social media site Pinterest.