(Reuters) - Ride-sharing service Lyft has hired investment bank Qatalyst Partners, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Qatalyst Chairman Frank Quattrone has contacted companies including large automakers about acquiring a stake in Lyft, the Journal said, citing the people. (http://on.wsj.com/299KrRF)
The bank acted as LinkedIn Corp's (N:LNKD) financial adviser in Microsoft Corp's (O:MSFT) deal to buy LinkedIn for $26.2 bln. That proposed deal was announced earlier this month.
Qatalyst was also Qlogic Corp's (O:QLGC) financial adviser, according to Bloomberg, to explore strategic alternatives.
Lyft declined to comment and Qatalyst could not be reached for comment outside regular business hours.
General Motors Co (N:GM) invested $500 million in Lyft in January and laid out plans to develop an on-demand network of self-driving cars with the ride service.
Lyft said its latest funding round, which took place in January, valued it at $5.5 billion.