Apple May Have Been Talking To Lyft About Potential Acquisition
Apple previously invested $1 billion in Chinese ride-hailing service Didi Chuxing. It also appears that they’ve also been talking to Lyft, regarding an acquisition (via the New York Times).
The report says that Apple, along with a handful of other companies have been looking at a possible acquisition of Lyft. Just to name a few: General Motors, Google, Amazon, Uber, and Didi Chuxing. In some cases, the other company approached Lyft for the acquisition, however, it’s unclear which companies did what.
Lyft’s discussions were most serious with G.M., which is one of the ride-hailing company’s largest investors. Still, G.M. never made a written offer to buy Lyft, said the people, and in the end, Lyft did not find a buyer.
Lyft is not in danger of closing down and has a cash cushion of $1.4 billion, some of these people added, so the company will continue as an independent entity.
It’d be likely that Lyft is looking to be acquired in order to better compete with Uber. Lyft has partnered with Didi Chuxing in the past to try to overtake Uber, but they’re simply the top dog in the ride-hailing app market.