NEW YORK, June 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Lyft, Inc. (“Lyft” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ:  LYFT) and certain of its officers.   The class action, filed in United States District Court, for the Northern District of California, and indexed under 19-cv-03003, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons and entities who purchased or otherwise acquired Lyft common stock pursuant or traceable to the Form S-1 Registration Statement and Prospectus (collectively, the “Registration Statement”) issued in connection with Lyft’s March 2019 initial public stock offering (the “IPO” or “Offering”).

This action asserts non-fraud strict liability claims under Sections 11 and 15 of the Securities Act of 1933 (“Securities Act”) against Lyft and certain Lyft’s officers and directors (collectively, the “Defendants”).

If you are a shareholder who purchased Lyft securities pursuant or traceable to the IPO, you have until July 16, 2019, to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class.  A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com.   To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at [email protected] or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 9980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased. 

[Click here for information about joining the class action]

Lyft is a ridesharing company.  Beginning in 2012, Lyft sought to change transportation by launching its peer-to-peer marketplace for on-demand ridesharing.  Today, through its technology platform, Lyft operates a scaled network of drivers and riders, affording riders the ability to select the mode of transportation suited to their specific needs.

In November 2018, following its $251 million acquisition of Bikeshare Holdings LLC (“Motivate”), the largest bike share operator in North America with a 2017 revenue of approximately $100 million, Lyft added bikes to its suite of services.  According to its Form S-1 filed on March 1, 2019, with the SEC, Lyft acquired Motivate to “establish a solid foothold in the bike-share market and offer access to new transportation options on the Lyft Platform.”  Pursuant to its agreement, Lyft acquired Motivate’s technology and corporate functions, including its city contracts (e.g., New York City’s “Citi Bike”).

On March 28, 2019, in what appeared to be a race against the world’s number-one rideshare company, Uber Technologies, Inc. (“Uber”), to be first to list its shares on a public exchange, Lyft conducted an IPO through which it offered 32.5 million shares to the public at a price of $72.00 per share for anticipated total proceeds to Lyft of over $2.275 billion.

According to the Offering Documents filed in connection with the IPO, Lyft estimated that its ridesharing marketplace “is available to over 95% of the U.S. population, as well as in select cities in Canada.”  Lyft also asserted that its “U.S. ridesharing market share was 39% in December 2018, up from 22% in December 2016.”

The Complaint alleges that unbeknownst to investors, however, the Registration Statement’s representations were materially inaccurate, misleading, and/or incomplete because they failed to disclose, among other things, that: (1) Lyft’s claimed ridesharing position was overstated; (2) more than 1,000 of the bicycles in Lyft’s rideshare program suffered from safety issues that would lead to their recall; (3) Lyft’s drivers were becoming disincentivized from driving for Lyft; and (4) Lyft failed to warn investors that a labor disruption could affect its operations. Accordingly, the price of the Company’s shares was artificially and materially inflated at the time of the Offering. Accordingly, the price of the Company’s shares was artificially and materially inflated at the time of the Offering.

As the true facts emerged in the wake of the Offering, the Company’s share price fell sharply from the $72.00 Offering price, damaging investors.

The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com.

CONTACT:
Robert S. Willoughby
Pomerantz LLP
[email protected]