Alphabet Said to Be in Talks to Invest About $1 Billion in Lyft
The Google parent is also an investor in Uber, though that relationship has soured
Google parent Alphabet Inc. has held talks to invest about $1 billion in Lyft Inc., according to people familiar with the matter, in what would further an alliance against the ride-hailing company’s arch rival, Uber Technologies Inc.
It isn’t clear when the talks took place or whether a deal will materialize. Bloomberg earlier reported the talks.
An investment in Lyft would complicate an already confusing mix of alliances and competitors in the global ride-hailing business. Alphabet is an investor in Uber after its venture-capital arm, now called GV, invested $258 million in the ride-hailing giant in 2013. Their relationship soured over the years as Uber and Google began competing against each other in developing self-driving cars.
The standoff reached a head in February when Alphabet sued Uber for allegedly stealing trade secrets to jump-start its own driverless-car program, allegations the ride-hailing company denies. In May, Alphabet turned to Lyft in a deal to jointly develop autonomous-vehicle technology.
Lyft, which only operates in the U.S., is a distant second in market share and valuation. It was last valued at about $7.5 billion and has raised about $2.6 billion from investors including venture firms like Andreessen Horowitz and companies such as General Motors Co. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.
Uber, by comparison, was last valued by investors at $68 billion and is nearing a deal with SoftBank Group Corp. on an investment that could total up to $10 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.
wsj.com
|
