Wilson Sonsini Rides Ride-Hailing Boom, Sharing in Lyft IPO Fees
Lyft's IPO has generated $1.4 million in legal fees and expenses for Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and Goodwin Procter.
March 29, 2019 at 04:27 PM
3 minute read
Confetti falls as John Zimmer, co-founder and president of Lyft Inc., center left, and Logan Green, co-founder and chief executive officer of Lyft Inc., center right, ring the opening bell during the company's initial public offering at Lyft's new service center in Los Angeles on March 29, 2019. Photo: Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg
Lyft made its public market debut on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “LYFT” on Friday, trading at $87.24 a share—20 percent above its IPO price of $72.
San Francisco-based Lyft, advised by Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, said Thursday that it priced 32.5 million shares at $72 apiece, up from its first price range of $62 to $68. At the IPO price, Lyft has raised about $2.3 billion from the listing, valuing the ride-sharing company at about $24 billion.
Lyft is the first of a raft of tech “unicorns”—startups with a valuation over $1 billion—set to make their initial public offerings this year. According to an updated S-1 the company filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission this week, the deal has generated $1.4 million in legal fees and expenses for its legal advisers.
Lyft is represented by Wilson Sonsini, while its underwriters have turned to Goodwin Procter. Wilson Sonsini has declined to comment on whether the firm owns Lyft stock.
The Wilson Sonsini legal team is led by Katharine Martin, who was tapped nearly a year ago to serve as chairwoman of the firm's board of directors, along with partners Rezwan Pavri, Lisa Stimmell and Andrew Hill.
The Silicon Valley law firm has long been working with Lyft on its much-anticipated public market debut, including closing several rounds of late-stage funding for the company. And Wilson Sonsini, a top adviser for Silicon Valley's startup community, is taking more than just one ride in the booming car-sharing market.
Uber, which was last valued at $76 billion after its latest round of funding in August 2018, announced earlier in the week it will spend $3.1 billion to acquire Middle East rival Careem Networks FZ.
Careem tapped Wilson Sonsini in that deal, while Uber is represented by Morrison & Foerster. Wilson Sonsini corporate partners Mark Holloway, Kathy Ku and Megan Baier acted for Careem, with assistance from others in the firm's technology transactions, employee benefits and compensation, tax, antitrust, and privacy and cybersecurity practices.
Uber, which filed confidential paperwork with the SEC in December, is also on deck for its IPO this year.
Read more
MoFo, Wilson Sonsini Lead on Uber's $3B Purchase of Careem
Wilson Sonsini Grew Revenue, Profits as It Chased Startup Culture's Geographic Spread
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