Lyft Beats Uber in the IPO Race With Public Filing

(Bloomberg) — Lyft Inc. filed for a U.S. initial public offering, giving investors a first look at crucial financial information about the ride-sharing company as it heads for the public markets.

Lyft filed with an initial offering size of $100 million, typically a placeholder amount used to calculate fees that’s likely to change. The IPO is being led by JPMorgan Chase & Co., Credit Suisse Group AG and Jefferies Financial Group Inc., according to the filing.

San Francisco-based Lyft posted a net loss of $911 million on revenue of $2.2 billion for 2018, according to Friday’s filing with the Securities and Exchanges Commission. That compares with a loss of $688.3 million on revenue of $1.1 billion for the previous year.

Banks working with Lyft on its listing have pitched valuations for the company ranging from $18 billion to $30 billion, people familiar with the matter said in December. By last week, that range had narrowed to $20 billion to $25 billion, according a person familiar with the matter.

In June, Lyft announced that it had raised $600 million in a round led by Fidelity Investments at a $15.1 billion valuation. Its investors include Alphabet Inc.’s private-equity arm CapitalG, KKR & Co. and Baillie Gifford.

Lyft applied to list shares on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol “LYFT.”

Friday’s filing gives Lyft a leg up in its race with Uber to go public this year. Both ride-sharing companies filed their draft statements to the Securities & Exchanges Commission in the same week in December, and had received initial feedback from the regulator as of Feb 11.