US-based ride hailing service Lyft turned down an acquisition offer by automotive manufacturer and investor General Motors, The Information reported on Friday, citing a person briefed on the situation.
Lyft operates a ride hailing app that spans much of the US as well six Southeast Asian countries. It has firmly established itself as the second most widely used company in the sector in the US, and provided seven million rides per month as of January 2016.
The approach was reportedly made in recent weeks and although GM offered a specific price, The Information has not learned its size. Lyft turned down the deal and is instead raising new funding.
GM invested $500m in Lyft in a $1bn round in January this year that valued it at $5.5bn. The round also included China-based ride ordering platform Didi Chuxing, e-commerce firms Alibaba and Rakuten, investment holding company Kingdom Holding and Janus Capital Management.
Lyft has raised more than $2bn in funding altogether, its other investors including internet group Tencent, Icahn Enterprises, Coatue Management, Third Point Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Founders Fund and Mayfield Fund.
In addition to its Lyft investment, GM also acquired the assets of ride ordering service Sidecar in January. The deals are linked to the corporate’s long-term strategy of linking autonomous car technology with ride hailing apps in a move that would essentially change the model of car ownership itself.
The companies are already partnering on an initiative called Express Drive to supply Lyft drivers with affordable rental cars courtesy of GM, and intend to jointly test driverless taxis in the near future.