Activist investor Engine Capital nominated 2 director candidates at Lyft, sources say

By Svea Herbst-Bayliss

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Hedge fund Engine Capital Management is gearing up for a boardroom fight at ride-hailing company Lyft and has nominated director candidates, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The activist investor has pushed the company in recent weeks to address its sagging stock price and to overhaul strategy and corporate governance, the sources said. Lyft, which has a market value of roughly $5.2 billion, has a dual-class share structure, which has also been a point of friction for investors.

Engine nominated two director candidates to join the board, which currently has 10 members. Only four directors will stand for election at this year's annual meeting.

Lyft has long been the far smaller competitor to Uber, which is valued at $159 billion and which expanded abroad and into other services including food delivery while Lyft focused on the North American market.

News of Engine's campaign boosted Lyft's stock price, closing up 2.2% at $12.49. The share price remains down 36% over the last 52 weeks and has lost 55% over the last five years.

At the end of 2024, Engine owned less than 1% of Lyft, according to a regulatory filing. It is not clear how much the hedge fund currently owns. Lyft requires that anyone who wishes to nominate directors own at least a 1% stake, according to a filing made by the company last year.

A representative for Lyft was not immediately available for comment and a representative for Engine declined to comment.

(Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss; Editing by Chris Reese and Leslie Adler)