Is Lyft getting ready for another funding round?

The Wall Street Journal has reported citing sources familiar with the matter at hand that Lyft, a ride sharing service, has hired Qatalyst Partners, an investment bank.

According to the WSJ, Frank Quattrone, Qatalyst’s Chairman has got in touch with companies which includes several large auto manufacturers for getting a stake in Lyft.

Earlier this month, Qatalyst Partners had acted as LinkedIn Corp’s financial adviser when Microsoft Corp’s had tried to acquire it in a deal valued at $26.2 billion. Furthermore, according to Bloomberg, Qatalyst had also acted as Qlogic Corp’s financial adviser, in order to explore strategic alternatives.

With regard to the current deal, Qatalyst could not be reached for comment outside regular U.S business hours while Lyft declined comment.

Earlier in January this year, Lyft’s latest funding round valued it at $5.5 billion. During the same month, General Motors Co had also invested in Lyft and had shown interest in developing an on-demand network of self-driving cars with the ride sharing service.

Categories: Entrepreneurship, HR & Organization, Strategy

Tags: Top, Wall Street Journal,, Qatalyst Partners, valuation, funding round, investment bank, General Motors, Bloomberg, Strategic alternatives,