Google in talks to invest in Lyft
Google in talks to invest in Lyft
By Dan Primack Kia
Kokalitcheva Sep 14, 2017
Google has held talks to invest around $1 billion in
Lyft, Axios has learned from multiple sources. Bloomberg is reporting the same.
It is unclear which group within Google would make the investment — the company
has several investment arms and also invests off its balance sheet — but word
is that this is being driven by top-level executives like Alphabet CEO Larry
Page.
Why it matters: It would be a stunning move, given that
Google was an early investor in Lyft rival Uber, even though the two companies
have since gotten litigious over allegations of trade secret theft. Or, as one
Uber investor explained it to Axios: "That is seriously messed up."
Complication: SoftBank currently is in talks to invest in
Uber, but is insisting on a minimum ownership of 17.3% (i.e., some existing
shareholders would need to sell). If SoftBank can't reach that threshold, it
has threatened to instead invest in Lyft — a move that theoretically could
impact the company's negotiations with Google.
Funding history: Lyft has raised over $2 billion in
funding to date, from backers like General Motors, Carl Icahn, Andreessen
Horowitz, Floodgate, Mayfield, Coatue Management, Founders Fund and Rakuten.
A Lyft spokesperson declined comment. Google has not yet
returned requests for comment.
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