Alphabet Tipped In Talks With Lyft Over Possible $1b Investment

Look out Uber. Sources claim Alphabet is currently in talks about making a major investment in ridesharing company Lyft, something that will be done through either Google or CapitalG. The news comes amidst Waymo's legal spat with Uber, something that resulted in a deal between Waymo and Lyft earlier this year. Sources claim Alphabet and Lyft haven't finalized a deal at this time.

The information comes from Bloomberg, which says sources caution the rumored deal may fall through. However, should Alphabet proceed, it could result in Google investing somewhere around $1 billion in Lyft, something that itself was recently tipped as eyeing a possible expansion of its services into Canada.

Neither Alphabet/Google or Lyft have commented on the rumor. Sources don't go into many details beyond the tipped investment, though it is known that Lyft had informal discussions with Alphabet in 2016. Whether this newer tipped business plan is related to last year's talks isn't clear. Such an investment would prove excellent for Lyft, however.

While Uber continues to stare down the barrel of public criticism and legal troubles, Lyft has been doubling down on its own expansion, advertisements, and spending (in a manner of speaking). All signs point toward the company eyeing a wider presence on the market, and indeed we recently saw it roll out into a greater number of cities in the US. According to the company's most recent expansion announcement, Lyft now offers service across 94% of the US.

SOURCE: Bloomberg