Didi Chuxing, operator of China’s top ride-hailing mobile application, has completed a US$7.3 billion fundraising, the company announced yesterday, even as it comes under fire from several local governments for safety concerns and unregulated operations.
The deal is one of the world’s largest private equity funding rounds, an includes US$4.5 billion in funds from Apple, China Life, Ant Financial and other new shareholders, together with existing investors Tencent, Alibaba, China Merchants Bank, and SoftBank, among others, according to a company statement.
In addition to the US$4.5 billion equity investment, China Merchants Bank has also committed to become the lead arranger for a syndicated loan facility to Didi of an amount up to US$2.5 billion. China Life also added a long-term debt investment of two billion yuan (HK$2.4 billion).
The capital will be used for technology upgrading, big data research and operations, investment in improving rider and driver experiences, as well as exploration into new business lines and opportunities.
At present, Didi works with more than 14 million Chinese car owners and drivers. It had a more than 87 per cent market share in private-car-hailing services and nearly a 100 per cent share in taxi-hailing services last year, according to data from the China National Network Information Centre.