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EMERGING TECH
Uber and Lyft inch closer to early 2019 initial public offerings
Rival ride-hailing startups Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. are both making headlines today with news that they’re each inching closer to initial public offerings in 2019.
Leading the news, Uber has received proposals from Wall Street banks that value the company at as much as $120 billion in an IPO, according to The Wall Street Journal.
At that price, Uber would be valued at a $48 billion premium compared to its valuation of $72 billion as of its last round in August, when it raised $500 million from Toyota Motor Corp. It’s also $72 billion higher than its valuation when SoftBank acquired 15 percent of Uber in December 2017.
The same report claimed that the IPO could take place early next year, which is in line with previous statements from the company. Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi said in May that Uber was on track for a public offering next year and the company hired Wall Street veteran Nelson Chai as chief financial officer in August to assist with the float.
Coming into its IPO, Uber financials have never been solid. In the first quarter, Uber reported its first-ever profit thanks to the sale of its Russian and Southeast Asian businesses before returning to form in the second quarter with an $891 million loss.
Lyft, Uber’s smaller but faster-growing rival, is reported to have selected JPMorgan Chase to lead its offering along with Credit Suisse Group and Jeffries Group. CNBC reported that Lyft is looking at beat Uber to the chase with an IPO in early 2019 that would value the company at $15 billion, around the same price it was valued at when it last raised money in June.
Like Uber, Lyft is not profitable but whereas revenue growth was reported to be slowing at Uber, Lyft’s revenues are rapidly growing. Lyft was reported to have doubled revenue in the first half of the year, and a new report from The Wall Street Journal claims that Lyft’s revenue rose to $563 million in the third quarter from $300 million the year before. Lyft’s losses rose to $254 million from $195 million a year ago.
News that Uber and Lyft are set to go public early next year will set up a big start for public offerings in 2019. But as Reuters noted, they will also “test investor tolerance for money-losing technology unicorns.”
Image: stockcatalog/Flickr
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