Lyft valued at $ 24 billion before its debut on the stock market

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The brokerage firm, Lyft, estimated the price of its shares at $ 72, in response to strong investor demand, valuing the company at $ 24.3bn (£ 18.6bn).

Lyft's shares are expected to start trading on the technology-dominated Nasdaq index on Friday.

This strong valuation makes it the largest company to go public on the stock market since the Chinese group Alibaba in 2014.

Lyft's main rival, Uber, is also expected to float this year.

Technology companies Pinterest, Slack and Postmates, are also expected to make their debut in the market this year.

Earlier in the week, Lyft had raised the indicative price range of its stock offering to $ 70-72 per share, from $ 62 to $ 68 previously.

Analysis: by Michelle Fleury, Business Correspondent in New York

The sale of Lyft shares is a great moment for the technology industry.

The shares of the portage company cost $ 72 per unit. This was the high end of expectations. This suggests a strong appetite for investors before the first day of the company's negotiations as a public company.

For a company that is not yet profitable, it validates its business model, which established it as the number two of the United States.

Wall Street is clearly eager to take part in the mbadive growth of the car-sharing sector. This augurs well for Lyft's rival, Uber, who is expected to make his debut on the NYSE shortly.

But there are risks: from regulatory uncertainty to fierce competition that will probably emerge with the development of the autonomous vehicle market.

And given its two-clbad share structure (Lyft keeps control of the vote), investors are buying a small part of a company in which they will have almost no voice in it.

Lyft was launched in 2012 by technology entrepreneurs John Zimmer and Logan Green, three years after the creation of Uber.

It remains the smallest company, with a limited international presence. Uber is expected to be valued at around $ 120 billion when it will be made public.

However, Lyft's profile has grown in recent years as his main competitor has been struck by the controversy surrounding his aggressive corporate culture and his data collection practices.

Lyft now accounts for about 39% of the US sales market, up from 22% in 2016, according to the company.

Lyft's revenues doubled in 2018 to $ 2.2 billion from $ 1.1 billion in 2017, according to its filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

However, his losses have also increased. The company lost $ 911 million in 2018, up from $ 688 million in 2017.