A firm owned by a Saudi prince on Thursday said it had led a group that invested about US$248 million in US ridesharing service company Lyft Inc.
Kingdom Holding Co, which is 95 percent-owned by billionaire Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, invested US$104.9 million in the San Francisco-based startup, it said in a statement.
The investment is equivalent to a 2.3 percent stake.
Kingdom Holding invested US$31 million in a capital increase and spent US$73.9 million to acquire preferred shares from other investors, it said.
The statement did not identify the co-investors.
EXPANSION
On Dec. 3, Lyft announced an expansion of its alliances with Asian partners, including China’s Didi Kuaidi (滴滴快的), Singapore’s GrabTaxi and India’s Ola, increasing its challenge to rival Uber Technologies Inc.
Lyft last week said in a Delaware State filing that it plans to raise as much as US$1 billion in new funds.
The company is valued at US$2.5 billion, while Uber has become one of the world’s most valuable startups, worth an estimated US$50 billion.
Lyft lost US$127 million in the first half of this year on US$46.7 million in revenue, according to fundraising documents obtained by Bloomberg.
KEY AREAS
It said last month it has gained market share in key areas such as San Francisco, and has a gross revenue “run rate” of US$1 billion.
Kingdom Holding’s diversified interests range from the Euro Disney theme park and Four Seasons hotels to News Corp and Citigroup Inc.
The Saudi tycoon and his firm also became Twitter Inc’s second-largest shareholders in October.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
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