TMT/Internet

Brief TMT & Internet: Rakuten (4755 JP): Lyft IPO’s Big Lift Unlikely to Lead to a Sustained Re-Rating and more

In this briefing:

  1. Rakuten (4755 JP): Lyft IPO’s Big Lift Unlikely to Lead to a Sustained Re-Rating
  2. Lyft IPO Preview: Maybe We’ll Just Walk?

1. Rakuten (4755 JP): Lyft IPO’s Big Lift Unlikely to Lead to a Sustained Re-Rating

Softbank

Lyft Inc (0812823D US) has kicked off its IPO by posting its S-1 filing last Friday. Rakuten Inc (4755 JP) is Lyft’s single largest shareholder with a 13.05% stake. Rakuten has invested around $700 million to acquire its current Lyft stake and stands to make 3-4 times its investment if Lyft achieves its rumoured IPO valuation range of $20-25 billion.

Lyft’s IPO valuation range was first reported by Reuters on 20 February 2019. On the back of the news, Rakuten’s shares have so far risen around 10%. Notably, at the IPO valuation range, the Lyft stake would account for 20-25% of Rakuten’s current market cap. While the Lyft IPO will prove to be a big winner for Rakuten from an ROI perspective, we believe that from a valuation perspective, the upside is modest.

2. Lyft IPO Preview: Maybe We’ll Just Walk?

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Lyft Inc (0812823D US) , a leading ride-sharing company, released its IPO prospectus in order to raise 3bn USD. Our key points are below 

Intro to Lyft

Lyft – a comparison vs. peers

Strengths and Weaknesses

Financials

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