Ride-hailing firm Uber has made a move to go public as it plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange The decision to opt for the Wall Street exchange comes as smaller, ride-sharing rival Lyft prepares to list on the Nasdaq- the Nasdaq Stock Market is an American stock exchange and the second-largest stock exchange in the world by market capitalization, behind only the New York Stock Exchange located in the same city.
The firm will launch its initial public offering (IPO) in April and might be valued as high as $120bn (£91.4bn). Other major technology companies including Google, Apple and Facebook has been known to trade on the Nasdaq, but the New York Stock Exchange has secured some of world’s biggest IPOs like; Alibaba and General Motors.
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Uber’s IPO is as a result of investors showing strong appetite for new stock listings. Since shares of Levi Strauss shot up on its return to the stock market after 34 years. The price practically shot higher immediately after Wall Street opened and closed up 31.8% valuing the company at $8.7bn. Analysts said the success of the recent listings will also reflect in companies like; Pinterest, Airbnb, Slack and Uber, for other flotations planned this year.
Founded in 2009, Uber is a transportation network company headquartered in San Francisco, California. Uber offers services including peer-to-peer ridesharing, ride service hailing, food delivery, and a bicycle-sharing system. The company has operations in 785 metropolitan areas worldwide. Uber continuously faces opposition from both private hire drivers and regulators in several jurisdictions.