Didi Chuxing (Didi), the largest ride-hailing platform in China, is rumored to IPO in Hong Kong in the second half of the year at the soonest, our sister site has reported (in Chinese).
In what could be one of the most highly anticipated IPOs this year, the company is said to be considering other listing structures—not excluding the possibility of pursuing the weighed voting rights structure recently introduced in Hong Kong Stock Exchange to incentivize Chinese tech companies but is still not allowed by Chinese regulators.
According to Hong Kong Economic Times (in Chinese), Didi has started seeking consultation from various investment banks last month regarding the IPO preparation. The company is also reportedly looking for potential investors.
Didi was last valued at over $50 billion in December of 2017 with $12 billion in cash reserves, after raising $4 billion from investors including Japanese conglomerate SoftBank and Abu Dhabi state fund Mubadala Capital. A Wall Street Journal report estimated that Didi’s IPO this year could bump its market value to USD 70 to 80 billion.
Didi’s operation spanned across ride-sharing, AI, and autonomous technology. According to the company, it is providing transportation services for more than 450 million users in China. Back in August of 2016, Didi acquired Uber China, its then most formidable rival, in a USD 35 billion mega-merger.