Saudi prince invests in US ridesharing service Lyft

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 percent-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 percent 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.
Source: AFP