Lyft Plans to File for IPO as Soon as Next Week

(Bloomberg) -- Lyft Inc. could file as soon as next week for an initial public offering and plans to target a valuation of $20 billion to $25 billion, a person familiar with the matter said.

The ride-hailing industry’s No. 2 plans to begin marketing shares in a roadshow the week of March 18, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the plans weren’t public. That may put Lyft ahead in its race to go public against its larger rival, Uber Technologies Inc.

Lyft, which announced in December that it had filed its IPO application confidentially with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, intends to list its shares on the Nasdaq market, the person said. The SEC’s processing of that application overlapped with the 35-day shutdown of the federal government that delayed reviews by regulators.

A spokeswoman for San Francisco-based Lyft declined to comment. The details of the companies IPO plans were reported earlier by Reuters and the Wall Street Journal.

Uber and Lyft had both been targeting their IPOs for the first half of the year.

The ride-hailing companies have attracted billions in venture capital, and 2019 will test whether the money-losing businesses withstand wider investor scrutiny. Yandex.Taxi, Russia’s largest ride-hailing service part-owned by Uber, is also looking to list in 2019.

Lyft has been working with JPMorgan Chase & Co., Credit Suisse Group AG and Jefferies Financial Group Inc. to potentially lead its IPO, people familiar with the matter have said. Those banks had pitched valuations for the company ranging from about $18 billion to $30 billion, the people said.

--With assistance from Olivia Zaleski.

To contact the reporter on this story: Eric Newcomer in San Francisco at enewcomer@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Elizabeth Fournier at efournier5@bloomberg.net, ;Mark Milian at mmilian@bloomberg.net, Michael Hytha, Anne VanderMey

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