Uber files for IPO, just days after ride-hailing rival Lyft
Uber reportedly filed paperwork this week for a proposed initial public offering, just days after its rival Lyft did the same, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.
Details about the IPO -- like the number of shares to be offered, the nominal value of those shares and the timing of it -- were not immediately known. Uber could not immediately be reached for comment.
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi previously told FOX Business the company was on course to go public in the latter half of 2019, but as the race between the two ride-hailing companies heats up, it’s possible it may happen sooner than originally planned. According to the Journal, the filing indicates the company could go public as soon as the first quarter of next year.
“There’s no guarantee. You don’t know what the market is doing,” Khosrowshahi said in September. “I can guarantee you that we’ll be ready, and hopefully the markets will be ready for us.”
Uber has reportedly received proposals from Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, which value it around $120 billion -- much larger than Lyft, whose market value is estimated closer to $15 billion.
The company was founded in 2009, but it has been plagued by scandals in the years since. It has been widely expected that both Uber and Lyft would raise additional funds by going public.
Uber came under fire more than a year ago after public scrutiny into the company’s workplace culture that many said included sexual harassment and discrimination. CEO Travis Kalanick was eventually ousted in June 2017, along with a slew of senior leaders, according to the New York Times (insert link to the Times).