China-based, corporate-backed ride hailing platform Didi Chuxing is considering an initial public offering that could value it at up to $80bn, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday.
The offering could take place before the end of 2018 and the company, whose shareholders include Uber, SoftBank, Tencent, Foxconn, Alibaba, China Life and Apple, would seek a valuation of at least $70bn, according to people familiar with the matter.
Didi operates an on-demand ride service that provides up to 30 million rides a day for a user base numbering some 450 million people. Although focused on China, it has latterly branched out by entering Taiwan, Japan and Latin America, and launched in Mexico this week.
The company also operates an automotive services business that incorporates vehicle leasing and sales, refuelling, maintenance and car sharing.
News of the prospective IPO came on the same day as Didi announced the formation of Didi Auto Alliance, an initiative in which 31 carmakers, component producers and digital mapping technology providers will share resources and expertise.
Didi has so far raised approximately $17.2bn in debt and equity financing, most recently securing $4bn from investors including telecommunications group SoftBank and the Abu Dhabi-owned Mubadala Investment Company at a $56bn valuation in December 2017.
SoftBank provided $5bn of a $5.5bn round closed by the company in April 2017, investing alongside Silver Lake Kraftwerk and financial services firms China Merchants Bank and Bank of Communications.
Computing technology producer Apple, e-commerce group Alibaba and its financial services affiliate Ant Financial, internet company Tencent and insurer China Life had joined SoftBank and BlackRock to invest $4.8bn in Didi, at a $28bn valuation, in a 2016 round closed alongside $2.5bn in debt.
Didi had initially received $3bn in funding in 2015, after it was formed by the merger of rivals Didi Dache and Kuaidi Dache, from Ping An Ventures – insurer Ping An’s corporate venturing unit – Alibaba, Tencent, China Investment Corp, Temasek, Capital International Private Equity Fund and Coatue Management.
Didi Dache and Kuaidi Dache’s pre-merger investors were SoftBank, Alibaba, Tencent, vehicle rental service eHi, Tiger Global Management, New Horizon Fund, DST Global, Matrix Partners, GSR Ventures and Citic PE.