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Lyft is reportedly close to hiring an advisory firm that will help the ride-hailing service select underwriters and plan for the company’s stock market debut.
Drew Pascarella
Lecturer of Finance
Drew Pascarella, lecturer of finance at Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, says that the firm’s first goal will be to convince investors Lyft, and not Uber, is the company to which every sharing economy startups should staple itself.
Pascarella says:
“Lyft’s IPO advisor, and ultimately the underwriting syndicate, will be tasked with an unanticipated challenge – distancing Lyft from Uber. A year ago, every sharing economy startup was stapling itself to Uber in some way.
“Now, given the cultural issues and potential economic shocks associated with the news out of London, Lyft’s underwriters will need to spend time convincing IPO investors that Lyft is different than Uber, both financially and culturally. Indeed, Lyft’s IPO success may hinge on this point.”
