Tuesday, March 19, 2019
Don’t look now, but 2019 may be shaping up to continue an Initial Public Offering (IPO) market that had been dormant just a few short years ago. This year may have gotten off to a slower start than the past 2 years — 2019 only has brought 2 IPOs to market thus far, compared with 6 at this stage a year ago — but do expect to bring along some of the most high-profile companies in several years.
Ride-share company Lyft, the #2 ride-share service behind Uber (which is also expected to IPO later this year), looks to go public late next week, March 29. The initial asking price is expected to be in a range of $62-68 per share, for a total initial market cap valuation of around $22 billion. Class-A shares will go by the ticker symbol LYFT.
Though Uber is the bigger of the two companies in this space, Lyft’s growth has been tremendous, especially over the past two years as Uber has fought through challenges relating to its past front office and reputation. Lyft posted year-over-year growth of more than 100% in 2018, and just over 200% in 2017. Because these ride-sharing companies have taken a long time to come to the stock market, Lyft’s early entry may provide an initial advantage over Uber, as well.
Even sooner than this, long-time blue jean manufacturer Levi Strauss & Co. will also be hitting for the first time since 1985, when the company was taken private. Operating under the ticker symbol LEVI, the casualwear major — including its ownership of Dockers — is prepared to commence trading Thursday morning. The range of asking price looks to be between $14-16 per share, for a market cap of $5.8 billion.
Mark Vickery
Senior Editor
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