Saturday, August 20, 2016

Lyft attempted sale to Apple, Didi Chuxing, Uber, GM, others

Lyft, the second-largest ride-hailing firm in the U.S., in recent months made overtures to sell itself to tech companies, automotive manufacturers and competitors, but failed to hook a buyer.




Citing sources familiar with the situation, The New York Times reports Lyft held talks with or approached Apple, Amazon, General Motors, Google, Uber and Didi Chuxing over a potential sale. The ride-hailing service was unable to find a suitable buyer. 

GM, which recently boosted Lyft's valuation to $5.5 billion with a $500 million infusion, showed the most interest in an acquisition, but ultimately passed without tendering a formal written offer. A separate report from The Information last week said Lyft was propositioned by GM, but rejected the takeover bid in favor of a new funding round.

Further confusing the situation is Uber China's sale to Apple partner Didi Chuxing. Lyft previously struck an accord with Didi, among other services, to stave off an aggressive international push from Uber. It is unclear how Didi's acquisition of Uber China's assets will affect the deal with Lyft. 

The Times says that while Lyft is not yet profitable, the company has some $1.4 billion in cash to keep it afloat.

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