Monitoring, Dec 8 (INP) - Ride-share company Uber quietly filed paperwork this week for ‎its initial public offering, the Wall Street Journal reported late Friday.‎

‎ The move comes one day after rival Lyft launched the process to take the company public with a ‎stock offering.‎

‎ The Journal, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter, said that Uber could go public as soon ‎as the first quarter, while Lyft is targeting its market debut for March or April 2019.‎

‎ Uber, which operates in over 60 countries, is in a race with Lyft to be the first to enter the market.‎

‎ Company CEO Dara Khosrowshahi had mentioned since joining Uber in late August 2017 that he was ‎hoping for an IPO in the first half of 2019.‎

‎ Uber is already the largest of the venture-backed "unicorns" valued at more than $1 billion, which ‎until recently was considered rare without tapping stock markets.‎

‎ In mid-October, the Journal reported that JPMorgan had been chosen along with Credit Suisse and ‎Jefferies Group for its IPO next year, which could value Uber as high as $120 billion.‎

‎ If its valuation tops $100 billion Uber’s IPO would be the biggest ever in the tech sector, and worth ‎more than the combined value of the three big automakers General Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler ‎Automobiles.‎

‎ An IPO of such magnitude would especially be a mark of investor confidence for Khosrowshahi, who ‎replaced the controversial Travis Kalanick, pushed out the door by investors anxious over a string of ‎scandals.‎

‎ Khosrowshahi has vowed to fix the company’s work culture and business practices after a series of ‎missteps and scandals over executive misconduct, a toxic work atmosphere and potentially unethical ‎competitive practices.‎

‎ For now, Uber has further increased its losses in the third quarter to more than a billion dollars.‎

‎ The San Francisco-based Uber has been a disruptive force in many cities where regulators and taxi ‎operators have challenged its business model.‎

Inp/khan