E-commerce firm Alibaba and its financial services affiliate Ant Financial are lining up a $400m investment in China-based ride hailing service Didi Chuxing, China Money Network reported today, citing a Tencent Technology article.
Formerly known as Didi Kuaidi and formed through the merger of ride hailing apps Didi Dache and Kuaidi Dache, Didi Chuxing has a reported 87% share of China’s ride ordering market, operating a service that covers taxis, buses and chauffeured cars.
Alibaba and Ant Financial would each provide $200m for the company, having previously partnered for a high-profile investment in online food delivery platform Ele.me.
The funding would likely be included in the $3bn funding round Didi Chuxing is currently raising. Hardware producer Apple invested $1bn two weeks ago as part of that round, which reportedly values the company at $25bn.
Didi Chuxing has so far raised $5.5bn in total, and Alibaba had reportedly invested $445m in Kuaidi Dache prior to the merger, which gave it a 10% stake in Didi Chuxing when it was formed.
Alibaba returned for a $3bn round that closed in September 2015 and valued Didi Chuxing at $16bn, investing alongside internet company Tencent, insurer Ping An, Temasek, China Investment Corp, Capital International Private Equity Fund and Coatue Management.
The purported investment would follow Alibaba’s $432m investment in another China-based ride service, UCar, last month. It supplied the funding as part of a $568m round and transferred the shares it acquired to affiliate funds Yunfeng and Yunling.