Saudi Prince Alwaleed's Firm Leads $247.7 Million Investment in Lyft
December 24 2015 - 3:50PM
Dow Jones News
Ridesharing service Lyft is getting a boost from Saudi Arabia's
Prince Alwaleed bin Talal.
The prince announced Thursday that his Kingdom Holding Co. is
paying $104.9 million for 2.3 percent of Lyft, part of a larger
investment by an unnamed group of $247.7 million for 5.3% of the
San Francisco-based company. The investment boosts Lyft's estimated
valuation to $4.92 billion.
Mr. Alwaleed isn't likely to catch a Lyft ride anytime soon from
his Saudi Arabian home. The service operates only in the U.S. after
it scaled back plans to expand overseas.
Lyft, like its well-known rival Uber Technologies Inc., offers
on-demand rides from a pool of drivers through its app. The two
companies have been expanding – and raising funds -- rapidly as
such services take hold in competition with traditional taxis.
Although it does not operate overseas, Lyft has taken
investment from China's largest ride-share provider -- Didi Kuaidi
-- and struck an alliance with other local players around the
globe.
Despite the lift from Mr. Alwaleed, Lyft is still valued at a
fraction of Uber, which recently raised funds at as much as a $64.6
billion valuation. Uber is is in many overseas markets, including
the Saudi capital, Riyadh.
Earlier this month, Lyft filed paperwork in Delaware
authorizing the sale of as much as $1 billion in new preferred
shares. That could give ultimately give Lyft a $5.75 billion
valuation, according to private market data firm VC Experts.
Through Kingdom Holding, Mr. Alwaleed is an investor in a
diverse set of industries, including agriculture, health care and
hotels. The firm is an investor in Apple Inc., social media
company Twitter Inc., and News Corp, the parent company of The
Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 24, 2015 16:35 ET (21:35 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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