Ride-hailing company Uber Technologies Inc is planning to kick off its initial public offering in April, putting it close on the heels of smaller rival Lyft Inc, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday. Next month, Uber will issue its required public disclosure, known as an S-1, and launch its investor roadshow, the people said. Those events will set in motion the Wall Street debut of one of Silicon Valley's most closely watched companies.
The timing for Uber's IPO means it will most likely hit public markets soon after Lyft completes its own public offering, which is expected to happen by the end of March, people familiar with the matter said. Uber declined to comment. The neck-and-neck race extends a long-held rivalry between the two loss-making companies, which have battled each other for riders and drivers since their inception.
Uber's business is much larger and more diverse than Lyft's, and the company has moved relatively swiftly to go public given both firms filed confidential paperwork for an IPO at the same time in December. Uber, a global logistics and transportation company most recently valued at $76 billion in the private market, is seeking a valuation as high as $120 billion, although some analysts have pegged its value closer to $100 billion based on selected financial figures it has disclosed.