Dec. 8 (UPI) -- Uber filed paperwork this week for an initial public offering setting up a race with competitor Lyft to be the first to go public, reports indicate.
The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times both reported Friday, citing unnamed sources, that the ride-hailing company confidentially filed the paperwork this week, signaling that it could enter the market in the first quarter of 2019.
The Times reported Uber submitted the filings with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission regulators Thursday, the same day its competitor Lyft, filed. The companies are racing each other to go public in stock market in 2019 amid fear of economic recession.
It's uncertain which company filed first, since details on Uber's filing, such as the time it was submitted, have not been immediately available.
Uber could be worth as much as $120 billion in an I.P.O., investment bankers have said, which would be the biggest offering since China's Alibaba began trading on the New York Stock Exchange in 2014.
Many tech companies have delayed going public because they've had plenty of private capital, but a surge in such stock market debuts in 2019 could create a record-breaking year as far as dollars raised.
