General Motors recently made a sizable investment into ride-sharing service, Lyft, but its intentions were much greater. The Detroit Free Press reports GM attempted to purchase the privately held company, but Lyft instead decided to seek an additional round of investment through venture capital et cetera.
The purchase attempt reportedly occurred last year. At the time, Lyft was valued at $5.5 billion when GM instead made its $500 million investment into the company, providing a 9 percent ownership stake.
Lyft has yet to turn a profit, but neither has any ride-sharing service to date. However, automakers are frantically investing in the hopes of getting on board early. Recent studies show About 15 million Americans will use a ride-sharing service this year, a figure projected to grow to more than 20 million by 2020, according to eMarketer.com.
For now, Lyft will remain privately held. But, who knows what the future may hold.
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