Lyft has taken a long-expected step toward going public. The ride-hailing service filed a confidential IPO proposal to the SEC Thursday.
The company said it has not yet made key decisions about the number of shares it will offer or the price of its stock. If market conditions are right, Lyft said it anticipates an IPO after the SEC competes a review process.
Lyft’s most recent round of private investments valued the company at $15 billion. Lyft said in June its most recent funding round, led by Fidelity, more than doubled the estimated value of the company from just 14 months earlier.
Lyft and competitor Uber are two of the largest and fastest growing privately-held companies in the country. Their IPOs have been anticipated for years.
Uber has plans to go public as well sometime in 2019. According to one report in the Wall Street Journal, Wall Street banks estimate Uber’s IPO could fetch $120 million. Uber’s most recent round of investments value it at $70 billion.
As a private company, Lyft has not disclosed its financial results. The 2012 JOBS Act allows companies with less than $1 billion in annual revenue to start the IPO process without making public disclosures, although it will have to release results as it prepares to meet with investors to discuss the actual sale of shares, a process known as a “roadshow.”