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Chinese Ride-Share Provider
Chinese Ride-Share Provider

Didi Chuxing, the largest ride-hailing company in China, has submitted documents to be a public company here in the United States of America. Three of the biggest technology investment companies in Asia that back it are Tencent, Alibaba, and Softbank.

It is yet to reveal the pricing and the number of shares it would offer to be that type of company here. Anyhow, sources close to the matter have informed Reuters that it could raise about $10 billion as well as seek an almost $100 billion valuation. That move would make Didi Chuxing the US’s largest ride-share service from a China-based company after Alibaba, which raised $25 billion many years ago.

There is a proprietary mobile application for Didi Chuxing that allows people to use private cars, taxis, carpool arrangements, and even buses in certain US cities. This company also has interests in EV charging networks, car making, autonomous driving, and fleet management. It has extended its services to 15 nations, but China is still its largest market.

In the application, the company mentioned a 9% lower revenue increase as compared to 2020 due to the coronavirus epidemic. Anyhow, with China opening up again, the firm has made a strong recovery.

Its revenue increased over twofold from January to March 2021, in relation to the same time last year. By now, it has a reasonable number of investors. Five years ago, Apple put $1 billion into Didi Chuxing in a big public investment regarded as one associated with the tech giant’s autonomous vehicle development.

Uber also owns about 13% of Didi Chuxing shares since it sold its ride-sharing business in China to Didi Chuxing after it went away from that market.

Trying To Win Wall Street’s Support

Anyhow, the company was involved in some controversies too. In its application, the company cited two instances that resulted in fury among people in China. Three years ago, a woman died in Zhengzhou city after she used its carpooling service named Hitch, which unites travelers going in an identical direction. In the same year, a man raped and killed a woman in Wenzhou when they were in a Didi Chuxing-related vehicle.

The company’s founders described those instances as its ‘darkest moment’. In the application, it also said that it stopped Hitch for over a year as part of improving rider and driver protection.

It is the most recent tech giant from Asia that courts Wall Street to have investment. Singapore’s largest ride-sharing application Grab got itself listed as a public company with a valuation of $40 billion in a recent SPAC deal.

That kind of deal is established to purchase and merge with a private company and then be publicly listed on the US stock market.

Companies from China raised a whopping $12 billion through US listings in 2020, as per financial market information provider Refinitiv.