China-headquartered ride hailing platform Didi Chuxing acquired a majority stake in Brazil-based counterpart and portfolio company 99 yesterday, with the New York Times reporting it paid $600m.
The NYT cited three people with knowledge of the transaction for the price. Two of them said Didi Chuxing had previously owned 30% of 99, having led a round in excess of $100m for the company a year ago.
Founded in 2012 and originally known as 99taxi, 99 runs an on-demand ride service with 14 million users across some 500 Brazilian cities and towns as of May 2017. Its user numbers are roughly comparable to those of Uber but its reach extends into far more areas.
The deal will give Didi Chuxing, which raised $9.5bn across two 2017 rounds, a direct stake in a secondary market in which it can directly challenge US-based Uber. It currently holds minority stakes in Lyft, Grab, Ola, Taxify and Careem as well as a small stake in Uber itself.
The companies have not disclosed which investors fully exited in the deal, but 99 had raised $100m from telecommunications firm and Didi Chuxing ally SoftBank in May 2017.
Mobile chipmaker Qualcomm and venture capital firm Monashees invested an undisclosed sum in 99 in 2013, before joining Tiger Global Management to provide $25m in 2015, Qualcomm taking part through its Qualcomm Ventures unit.
Cheng Wei, founder and chief executive of Didi Chxuing, said: “Globalisation is a top strategic priority for Didi.
“With enhanced investments in AI capabilities and smart transportation solutions, we will continue to advance the transformation of global transportation and automotive industries through diversified international operations and partnerships.”