Ride-hailing firm Lyft plans to raise up to $1 billion in financing: Bloomberg

[December 21, 2015]   (Reuters) - Ride-hailing app Lyft Inc, Uber Technologies Inc's biggest competition in the United States, expects to raise up to $1 billion in a new round of financing, Bloomberg reported citing a Delaware state filing.

The document filed by Lyft on Friday evening did not indicate how much had been raised, who was investing in the round or list a valuation, Bloomberg said.

A spokeswoman for Lyft declined to comment on the report.

The latest round of funding could value Lyft at about $4.5 billion, according to Sven Weber, a financial filings expert. While Justin Byers at VC Experts estimated it closer to $3.9 billion, Bloomberg said.

In its previous fund raising round led by Japanese online retailer Rakuten Inc <4755.T>, Lyft was valued at $2.5 billion.

Lyft, which makes a smartphone app that allows passengers to summon a ride, currently operates in about 150 U.S. cities.

Earlier this month, Lyft formed new partnerships with two Asian on-demand ride services, Ola and GrabTaxi to gain a toehold in the booming overseas markets.

Lyft, which announced an alliance with Didi Kuaidi, China's largest ride-hailing company, back in September, has formed a coalition that will allow passengers to use all platforms to hail a ride as they travel between the United States and Asia.

Activist investor Carl Icahn's Icahn Enterprises LP has a $100 million investment in Lyft Inc.

Lyft expects to reach $1 billion in gross annual revenue, the company's co-founder told Reuters in November.

Uber expects to raise as much as $2.1 billion in a financing round that would value the company at $62.5 billion, Bloomberg reported earlier this month.

(Reporting By Aurindom Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)

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