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Laura Buckman/Reuters
Ride-sharing service Lyft CEO Logan Green speaks during a session at the South by Southwest (SXSW) interactive, film and music conference in Austin, Texas March 16, 2015.
- A flurry of news reports Wednesday said Lyft is almost ready to begin the IPO process.
- The ride-hailing firm could make its confidential filing public as early as next week, with a road-show beginning in March.
- Beating Uber to public markets could be huge for the smaller rival, experts have told Business Insider.
Lyft may beat Uber to public markets, according to multiple news reports published this week.
Both Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal reported the company was planning to make its confidential filing with US regulators public as soon as next week, with a roadshow beginning the week of March 18. A separate Reuters report on Wednesday also noted the roadshow date for that week. All of the reports cited anonymous sources.
The company plans to start trading in early April, sources told the New York Times.
Lyft did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
If the three reports pan out, Lyft could easy beat its larger rival Uber to going public. Being first could be a huge advantage, experts have told Business Insider, especially given that no similar companies are currently listed on public markets. One analyst says the most apt comparisons right now are Etsy and Alibaba, as platform companies.
Read more: Lyft is counting on Middle America as the key to beating Uber in the race to an IPO
As a private company, Lyft has hit a valuation of $15 billion. That could increase as high as $30 billion, according to Bloomberg, still much smaller than Uber's $72 billion valuation, according to PitchBook data.
WSJ also reported that Lyft had chosen Nasdaq to list its shares. That could be a key victory for the uptown exchange, which missed out on several high-profile offerings that chose the New York Stock Exchange, including Spotify and Snap. Nasdaq did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
According to Bloomberg, Lyft has enlisted JPMorgan and Jefferies to help with the offering. Business Insider has confirmed that Credit Suisse is also involved.
Do you have information about Lyft's public offering or another news tip? Get in touch with this reporter at grapier@businessinsider.com. Secure contact methods available here.