Bulletins

Lyft's self-driving car division has been acquired by a Toyota subsidiary for $550 million

The deal also includes data-sharing agreements aimed at increasing safety and commercialization of autonomous vehicle technology.

Lyft's self-driving car division has been acquired by a Toyota subsidiary for $550 million

Lyft announced Monday that it's sold off Level 5, its self-driving car division, to Toyota subsidiary Woven Planet in a deal valued at $550 million. Woven Planet says the acquisition will expand the number of people it has working on self-driving technology to approximately 1,200 and expand the company's footprint beyond its Tokyo headquarters to Palo Alto and London.

The deal is structured so that $200 million is paid up front, with the remaining $350 million paid over the course of a five-year period. The end result for Lyft is a removal of $100 million in annualized non-GAAP operating expenses on a net basis as the ride-hailing company continues its trek toward profitability, which the company said could happen by Q3 of 2021 during an earnings call in February 2021. The deal also includes non-exclusive commercial arrangements between Lyft and Woven Planet aimed at improving safety and commercialization of autonomous vehicles via data-sharing.

Lyft says the that the transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021, pending regulatory approvals.

Kevin McAllister

Kevin McAllister ( @k__mcallister) is a Research Editor at Protocol, leading the development of Braintrust. Prior to joining the team, he was a rankings data reporter at The Wall Street Journal, where he oversaw structured data projects for the Journal's strategy team.

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Bulletins