Advertisement
UK markets closed
  • FTSE 100

    7,952.62
    +20.64 (+0.26%)
     
  • FTSE 250

    19,884.73
    +74.07 (+0.37%)
     
  • AIM

    743.26
    +1.15 (+0.15%)
     
  • GBP/EUR

    1.1704
    +0.0011 (+0.09%)
     
  • GBP/USD

    1.2627
    +0.0005 (+0.04%)
     
  • Bitcoin GBP

    55,973.53
    +773.27 (+1.40%)
     
  • CMC Crypto 200

    885.54
    0.00 (0.00%)
     
  • S&P 500

    5,254.35
    +5.86 (+0.11%)
     
  • DOW

    39,807.37
    +47.29 (+0.12%)
     
  • CRUDE OIL

    83.11
    -0.06 (-0.07%)
     
  • GOLD FUTURES

    2,254.80
    +16.40 (+0.73%)
     
  • NIKKEI 225

    40,336.80
    +168.73 (+0.42%)
     
  • HANG SENG

    16,541.42
    +148.58 (+0.91%)
     
  • DAX

    18,492.49
    +15.40 (+0.08%)
     
  • CAC 40

    8,205.81
    +1.00 (+0.01%)
     

Lyft CEO announces the ride-share company is open to acquisition bids

Yahoo Finance Video discusses comments made by Lyft CEO David Risher that the ride-sharing company is open to acquisition bids and how the announcement may impact its competitor, Uber.

Editor's note: Here's how this was originally reported by Bloomberg:

Lyft Inc. isn’t actively pursuing a sale but would be open to offers, Chief Executive Officer David Risher said in an interview on Bloomberg Television, appearing to soften his view from earlier this year about a potential transaction.

In response to a question Friday during the interview about whether the company was open to an acquisition, Risher said, “If someone calls, a public company has to be.”

ADVERTISEMENT

The CEO added that while Lyft was “not on the block,” the ride-hailing company would be “open to offers,” though he stopped short of saying it had received interest.

Video transcript

SEANA SMITH: Kicking off with Lyft, CEO David Risher telling Bloomberg earlier this afternoon that the ride-hailing company is open to offers for acquisition. Now, Risher had also told our own Brian Sozzi last month that the company is, quote, "always looking at options, and people approach us from time to time."

Lyft, of course, has been struggling to keep up with Uber, or even compete with Uber at all. Disappointing revenue outlook sending shares tumbling following its most recent earnings report. Allie, when we take into account what exactly Lyft has to do to slowly eat away at that market share, I think more and more people are talking about a possible M&A target from somebody else, that that might make the most sense.

ALEXANDRA CANAL: Yeah, and you wonder who would want to pursue Lyft in that possible acquisition. I am a notorious rideshare user. I take Ubers and Lyfts way too often. And anecdotally, I have noticed that Lyft is cheaper than Uber. And Bloomberg did have a chart that goes to show. Consistently in various parts across the US, you'll see that the price of Lyft is cheaper with those lower fees.

But at the same time, Bloomberg posted a separate chart that shows Lyft's share of riders is just so below Uber's, as you're seeing right now. And you alluded to this. They are a struggling company. They had to lay off 26% of its workforce. But there is that risk of a rideshare monopoly, and you have to wonder if Uber maybe wants Lyft around because of antitrust concerns. We've seen the FTC being really strict. So it'll be interesting to see how this story plays out.

AKIKO FUJITA: Well, and as a user, Allie, I'd wonder if prices are going to remain as low as they are right now if we've just got Uber in a big way. You know, look, you-- you really focus on the key issue here with Lyft, which is that these acquisition rumors have gotten louder and louder because of the struggles the company has had. You pointed to the roughly 25% staff cut that we saw or layoffs that we saw most recently. That came after another round of cuts in November.

And at the end of the day, this goes back to Lyft's strategy. They have really doubled down on ride-hailing when ride-hailing was struggling at the height of the pandemic. Uber went in another direction. We have seen them rewarded in a big way. So one to watch here to see if there are any suitors potentially that emerge.