优信宣布新一轮融资2.3亿美元 58同城领投 – Sina Tech
What happened: Chinese second-hand car selling platform Uxin today announced that it has entered into a convertible note purchase agreement with affiliates of Chinese classifieds site 58.com, private equity firm Warburg Pincus, investment firm TPG and other investors. Under the deal, the Nasdaq-listed company will issue and sell $230 million worth of convertible notes to the backers through a private placement that is expected to close by June. The company will enter a strategic cooperation with 58.com in the areas including traffic and inventory acquisition, used-car inspections, big data analysis, and software-as-a-service (SaaS). The company will use the funds to “enhance our ability to carry out cross-regional used car transactions,” CEO Dai Kun said in a statement sent to TechNode.
Why it’s important: Automobile sales in China for the past several years have been driven by new car sales, as most customers were first-time buyers who sought out new vehicles. But as car ownership increases, the used-car market is expanding as more owners are in the market for replacements. In 2018, China’s second-hand car transaction volume exceeded RMB 1 trillion (around $15 billion) with a growth rate of 27.6% year on year, according to data released at the 2018 National Business Conference. Several players have risen to the top of the sector, including Uxin, Renrenche, Guazi, and Souche. Intensifying competition has become ugly at times. Uxin accused its rival Guazi of data fraud in February, igniting a spat between the two companies. In April, Uxin was similarly accused of overstated transaction volume, undisclosed debt, and faked inventory values by J Capital Research analyst Anne Stevenson-Yang. Uxin refuted the allegations as “false” and “misleading.”
Updated with comments from Uxin.