Uber rival Lyft bags $248m as Saudi investor and pals buy a slice

Kingdom Holding, the investment firm of billionaire Saudi prince Alwaleed bin Talal, said it had led a group of investors to buy a piece of Uber peer-to-peer ride-share app rival Lyft for $247.7m (£166m).

The cash injection amounts to a 5.3 per cent slice of the San Francisco-based ride hailing outfit.

According to Reuters, Lyft is looking to raise up to $1bn in a fresh funding round, according to a filing.

Last year Uber launched in Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh. However, it is unclear what Lyft's global expansion plans are.

This is not the first tech company the investment fund has poured cash into. In 2011, Kingdom HOldings snapped up a $300m (£200m) stake in Twitter. ®