Lyft aiming to beat Uber to the punch with spring listing

TAXI service Lyft, the largest rival to Uber, is planning to go public next year and may seek to beat the Silicon Valley giant to a flotation.

Lyft has hired Class V Group, a specialist adviser, to work with the company ahead of a listing next year, according to Bloomberg News.

The company plans to begin discussions with banks in September, with a provisional target of going public in March or April.

The company last raised money in June when it brought in $600m (£462m) giving it a valuation of $15.1bn. The investment round was led by Fidelity, which had previously invested.

Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber’s chief executive, has repeatedly said that his firm is planning to go public in the second half of 2019. However, Nelson Chai, Uber’s incoming chief financial officer, seemed to cast doubt on that plan earlier this month.

“I don’t have enough insight until I get in there to make sure we have the right processes and controls to be a public company,” he told Axios.