Lyft Raises Its IPO Target, Aims to Raise as Much as $2.2 Billion
Strong demand for Lyft shares indicates a rebound in U.S. listings after a dismal start to the year.
(Bloomberg) -- Lyft Inc. raised the price range of its initial public offering set for Thursday, adding to what is set to be the biggest listing of the year so far.
The second-largest ride-hailing company in the U.S. is aiming to sell 31 million shares at $70 to $72 each to raise as much as $2.2 billion, according to a filing Wednesday. Lyft had been marketing the shares at $62 to $68 apiece.
Just two days after Lyft kicked off its roadshow in New York last week, the company’s offering became oversubscribed, people familiar with the matter said. On Monday, would-be investors packed a standing-room-only lunch at the Olympic Club in San Francisco to listen to the company’s pitch for the IPO, said people who attended the event.
Its bankers decided Tuesday to raise the target share price, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified because it wasn’t public.
Strong demand for Lyft shares indicates a rebound in U.S. listings after a dismal start to the year, in large part due to the U.S. government’s 35-day partial shutdown that sidelined the Securities and Exchange Commission. Lyft’s early success may also signal that money-losing tech companies including Uber Technologies Inc. will be well received by investors in IPOs expected later this year.
Lyft, which lost $911 million on $2.2 billion in revenue in 2018, provided more than 1 billion rides in the U.S. and Canada during the year, according to the company’s filings.
Facebook, Snap
Strong demand ahead of an offering doesn’t always mean success in the public markets. Facebook Inc. and Snap Inc. were both oversubscribed before their IPOs. Facebook’s stock wallowed in its first year of trading, before beginning a five-year ascent. Snap is trading below its 2017 offering price.
At $72 a share, Lyft would be valued in its IPO at about $24.7 billion, including restricted shares and so-called greenshoe shares that could be issued later by its underwriters. Uber, the world’s largest ride-hailing company, is expected to publicly file for its offering in April, kicking off a listing that could value the company at as much as $120 billion, people familiar with its plans have said.
San Francisco-based Lyft’s shares are set to start trading Friday on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker LYFT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. is leading the offering with Credit Suisse Group AG and Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Altogether, 29 banks were listed in the company’s filing as participating in the offering.
To contact the reporters on this story: Olivia Zaleski in San Francisco at ozaleski@bloomberg.net;Eric Newcomer in San Francisco at enewcomer@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Mark Milian at mmilian@bloomberg.net, ;Elizabeth Fournier at efournier5@bloomberg.net, Michael Hytha
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