Report: GM looked into buying Lyft, but was denied
The car-maker already owns a 9% stake in the ride-hailing company, but had recently offered to buy it outright, The Information claims. Lyft passed on the acquisition and decided to raise another round of funding instead.
Rumors have swirled about Lyft's foggy future since the company had reportedly enlisted Frank Quattrone's Qatalyst Partners, a Silicon Valley group known for selling companies. At the time, it was rumored that the company could be looking to fundraise or be looking for an exit. Based on The Information report, it looks like it's been both.
Lyft's future recently became more complicated as well, after Uber conceded its battle in China to rival Didi Chuxing and has more time to devote to its battles at home. While Lyft has been steadily gaining market share in major US cities, it still lags behind Uber's overall dominance in the space.
While General Motors likely wanted a piece of the consumer business, it's really banking on its partnership with Lyft for its future self-driving car network. The pair have been working to implement a network of self-driving cars that could be summoned on-demand with GM producing the electric vehicles and Lyft running the network of on-demand taxis like it does today.
Lyft declined to comment. GM did not immediately respond to the request.
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