SAN FRANCISCO (Bloomberg) — General Motors is following up its $500 million bet on Lyft Inc. with another flashy, though far less costly, move to fortify itself against the rise of Uber Technologies Inc.
The automaker has acquired the technology and most of the assets of the San Francisco-based ride-hailing pioneer Sidecar Technologies Inc. GM is also bringing on board around 20 employees from the Sidecar team, including co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Jahan Khanna. Co-founder and CEO Sunil Paul is not joining GM.
The price of the transaction was not disclosed, although a person familiar with the matter said it was less than the roughly $39 million that Sidecar raised in its failing effort to compete with much better-financed rivals like Uber and Lyft. David Roman, a GM spokesman, said the assets and employees would support the Lyft alliance and other efforts at the automaker.
