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posted by martyb on Friday October 20 2017, @11:12AM   Printer-friendly
from the being-taken-for-a-ride dept.

The investment arm of Google's parent company has invested in the ride-hailing company Lyft, raising $1 billion along with other companies, and valuing Lyft at $10-11 billion:

Alphabet Inc.'s investment arm, CapitalG, led a $1 billion investment in Lyft Inc. that values the ride-sharing startup at $11 billion, the ride-sharing startup said.

The funding marks a major shift in Alphabet's allegiances away from Uber Technologies Inc., and suggests a tighter pairing of its Waymo autonomous vehicle technology with Lyft's transportation network. David Lawee, a partner at CapitalG, will join Lyft's board.

The cash infusion helps Lyft compete with Uber, which has been reeling from a series of scandals and executive turnover in 2017. Bloomberg previously reported Alphabet was considering a $1 billion investment. The internet giant was a major Uber backer, but the companies have clashed in court over autonomous vehicle technology this year.

Lyft is considering an IPO by next year:

Lyft has had talks with investment banks about an initial public offering next year, according to two people briefed on the discussions, who asked to remain anonymous because the conversations are confidential. Lyft has not decided which bank may become its lead underwriter for an I.P.O., the people said.

[...] Lyft has benefited from Uber's series of high-profile stumbles in recent months to lift its own profile. The two companies are locked in something of a race for which can go public first; whichever company does will most likely set a benchmark for Wall Street for the valuation of a public ride-hailing company.

Also at The Verge and Slate.


Original Submission

Related Stories

Waymo's Case Against Uber "Shrinks" After Trade Secret Claim Thrown Out 2 comments

Google/Alphabet/Waymo's case against Uber has been dealt a setback following a number of unfavorable rulings:

A federal judge threw out a key trade-secret theft claim in the Alphabet Inc.'s unit lawsuit alleging that one of its former engineers schemed with the ride-hailing giant to steal critical know-how. The judge also rejected a technical analysis by one of Waymo's expert witnesses. In addition, he dismissed one of the defendants in the case, which will put more pressure on Waymo to prove that Uber itself engaged in misconduct independent of whether the engineer misappropriated proprietary information.

Legal experts said they can't read too much into the judge's ruling narrowing the list of trade secrets to be presented to a jury to eight from nine because many of the court documents describing the details of each secret are sealed from public view. The dismissal of the one claim won't reduce the $1.86 billion in damages Waymo is seeking because that figure is based on a different trade secret. Waymo was originally pursuing 121 separate claims but was ordered by Alsup to whittle them down to keep the case from becoming unwieldy.

[...] A spokesman for Uber said the rulings point to Waymo's "ever-shrinking case." [...] Waymo said in an emailed statement its inspections of Uber's devices, photos and digital drawings show Uber is using Waymo's trade secrets and copied its LiDAR designs "down to the micron."

Also at Recode and Ars Technica.

Previously: Waymo Drops Three of Four Patent Claims Against Uber
Text Messages Between Uber's Travis Kalanick and Anthony Levandowski Released
Waymo v. Uber Continues, Will Not Move to Arbitration
Alphabet Seeking $2.6 Billion in Damages From Uber

Related: Alphabet Leads $1 Billion Round of Investment in Lyft


Original Submission

SoftBank Devalues Uber by 30% With Latest Offer 5 comments

SoftBank thinks Uber is valued over $20 billion too high, although other investors may disagree:

SoftBank is preparing to buy shares of Uber at a price that values Uber at only $48 billion, a steep 30 percent discount rate for ownership in the company, which was last valued at almost $70 billion.

That's in line with what Uber investors were expecting; Recode reported this weekend that the price could be as low as $48 billion or as high as $52 billion. The $48 billion price, confirmed by a person with knowledge of the figure, will however raise concerns about whether the secondary sale will succeed — SoftBank needs to accumulate 14 percent of the company's shares to trigger the so-called "tender offer."

Also at Bloomberg and TechCrunch.

Previously: Alphabet Leads $1 Billion Round of Investment in Lyft
SoftBank to Invest Billions in Uber
Uber to Purchase 24,000 Volvo SUVs for Autonomous Vehicle Fleet
SoftBank Knew of Data Breach at Uber


Original Submission

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  • (Score: 2, Funny) by Ethanol-fueled on Friday October 20 2017, @01:47PM (2 children)

    by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Friday October 20 2017, @01:47PM (#585221) Homepage

    Welp, there goes the quality and charm of my favorite rideshare service, right down the shitter!

    • (Score: 2) by takyon on Friday October 20 2017, @07:11PM

      by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Friday October 20 2017, @07:11PM (#585383) Journal

      Don't forget to tip your driver! 🐙

      --
      [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 20 2017, @08:25PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 20 2017, @08:25PM (#585413)

      Well, google had to invest in someone before they took it over.

      THey will sue uber into submission, and will take what's left at a fire sale while strenghening lyft right now.

      I mean otherwise we'd have apple drivers or guys that are as fun to talk to as a back seat full of bill gates.

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