Contract electronics manufacturer Foxconn has invested $120m in China-based ride hailing platform Didi Chuxing at a $33.7bn valuation, Reuters reported yesterday, citing a stock exchange filing.
Foxconn provided the funding through a subsidiary, Foxteq Holdings, and now owns a stake in Didi Chuxing sized at approximately 0.35%.
Didi Chuxing sealed its position as China’s largest ride ordering platform when it agreed last month to acquire competitor Uber China in an all-share deal that would create a company officially valued at $35bn.
Postal service China Post invested an undisclosed amount in Didi Chuxing two weeks later, adding to some $10.5bn in debt and equity raised since its founding companies, Didi Dache and Kuaidi Dache, were launched.
About $7.3bn of that sum came in a June 2016 round featuring $4.5bn in equity capital from electronics producer Apple, e-commerce group Alibaba, financial services provider Ant Financial insurance firm China Life, internet company Tencent, telecom firm SoftBank and asset manager BlackRock.
Tencent, Alibaba, insurance company Ping An, Temasek, China Investment Corp, Capital International Private Equity Fund and Coatue Management had already supplied $3bn in funding in September 2015. The merger with Uber China effectively granted Uber a significant stake as well.
Apple is one of Foxconn’s largest customers, and the spread of Didi Chuxing’s investors suggests it could eventually be involved in Apple’s development of a driverless car, which Foxconn could theoretically play a role in manufacturing.
Foxconn and Tencent are also both investors in Future Mobility, a China-based company aiming to bring an electric autonomous car to market by 2020.