 "Saudi prince invests in ride sharing app Lyft, company valued at $2.5 billion")
A firm owned by a Saudi prince said Thursday it had led a group that invested around $248 million (226 million euros) in US ridesharing service company Lyft.
Kingdom Holding Co, which is 95 per cent-owned by billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, invested $104.9 million in the San Francisco-based startup, it said in a statement.
The investment is equivalent to a 2.3 per cent stake. Kingdom Holding invested $31 million in a capital increase and spent $73.9 million to acquire preferred shares from other investors, it said.
The statement did not identify the co-investors.
Lyft announced an expansion of its alliances with Asian partners earlier this month, increasing its challenge to rival Uber.
Lyft is valued at $2.5 billion, while Uber has become one of the world’s most valuable startups, worth an estimated $50 billion.
Kingdom Holding’s diversified interests range from the Euro Disney theme park and Four Seasons hotels to News Corporation and Citigroup.
The Saudi tycoon and his firm also became Twitter’s second-largest shareholders in October.
AFP
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