Ridesharing firm Lyft has been getting ready to capitalize on investor desire to delve into transports and has been exploring raising additional funding or even selling itself to outside interests, Reuters has reported.
The newswire said that the firm has been working with investment bank Qatalyst Partners, which is based in Silicon Valley. Reuters cited unnamed people familiar with the dialogue. The bank has been brought on board to explore capital raises and also a possible Lyft sale. The overall investment interest has been palpable, as firms have poured tens of billions of dollars into the transportation sector in the last decade to the tune of $38 billion.
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Qatalyst was an adviser to LinkedIn as it sold itself to Microsoft.
Among possible scenarios, current investors, such as Didi Chuxing and General Motors, could boost their stakes. One unnamed investor told Reuters the Didi stake could be increased with a coordinated push by an automaker. GM, for its part, has been on the record as aiming to increase its relationship with the ridesharing service. The auto giant has been offering a newer service to users, through Lyft, in which the two offer GM vehicles to drivers to make money offering rides (they rent the GM vehicles).
Profitability has been mixed in the ride services sector, and Lyft has not yet shown black ink on its bottom line, with $1.9 billion in sales, as tied to bookings that were logged in May.
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