John Zimmer
- Lyft publicly filed its S-1 on Friday to kick off the final sprint of the initial-public-offering process, which could see the ride-hailing startup go public as soon as April.
- Lyft will list on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol LYFT, according to the S-1.
- The S-1 gives us our best look yet at the company’s financials. It saw $2.2 billion in revenue in fiscal 2018, according to the filing.
Lyft publicly filed its IPO registration on Friday, kicking off what could be a record-setting year for multibillion-dollar private tech companies hitting the public markets.
Lyft didn’t disclose in the filing what price it plans to list at in its initial public offering. The ride-hailing service was last valued at $15 billion in a 2018 funding round, though it is reportedly eyeing a valuation of between $20 billion and $25 billion when it goes public.
Lyft will list on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol LYFT, according to the S-1. The company is working with JPMorgan, Credit Suisse, and Jefferies as lead bankers on the IPO, expected in early April.
Lyft plans to meet with prospective investors over two weeks in what’s known as a roadshow starting March 18, according to multiple reports. After that, the timing of Lyft’s IPO is up to its team and the performance of the market at large.
The timing puts Lyft ahead of its ride-hailing rival Uber, which is expected to go public later this year in an IPO that could reportedly value the company at as much as $120 billion.
Lyft’s financials
In its S-1, Lyft disclosed for the first time financials that shed light on its performance. The company saw $2.2 billion in revenue in fiscal 2018, up from $1.1 billion in the year-ago period.
Like many tech unicorns, Lyft still isn’t profitable. The company lost $911.3 million in 2018, up from losses of $688.3 million in 2017 and $682.8 million in 2016.
The company also revealed its biggest shareholders. Outside of Lyft’s executives and board of directors, the big winners when it goes public will be Rakuten, which owns 13% of the company; General Motors, which owns 8%; Fidelity, which owns 8%; Andreessen Horowitz, which owns 6%; and Alphabet, which owns 5%.
Lyft also disclosed details of a new plan to put stock into the hands of its drivers, who did not previously receive equity in the company because of their status as contractors instead of full-time employees.
The plan, first reported by The Wall Street Journal on Thursday, would give $1,000 to drivers who have logged 10,000 rides on Lyft’s platform and $10,000 to drivers who’ve racked up 20,000 rides. It’s up to the driver whether they keep the money or use it to buy shares at the company’s IPO price.
More from Lyft’s IPO filing:
- Lyft just gave us the first look inside its financials — and its revenue is growing much faster than its losses
- Lyft warns that the future of its business depends heavily on bikes and scooters
- JPMorgan, Credit Suisse and Jefferies among 29 banks running the Lyft IPO
- Some Lyft drivers will receive up to $10,000 in cash bonuses so they can buy shares in the company’s IPO
- ‘We were told we were crazy’ — Lyft’s founders describe how far the company has come in a new letter in its IPO filing
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See Also:
- Lyft and Uber will let some drivers get stock at the IPO price
- IPO WATCH: All the tech startups that have taken steps toward going public in 2019 — and those rumored to be thinking about it
- $1 billion video-conferencing company Zoom is aiming for an April IPO
Source: Business Insider – bpeterson@businessinsider.com (Becky Peterson)