Leading taxi apps Kuaidi and Didi in US$6b merger to counter Uber's advance in China

Mainland China's two largest taxi-booking apps - backed by internet rivals Alibaba and Tencent - announced their merger yesterday as global industry leader Uber seeks to expand in the Chinese market.

Alibaba-controlled Kuaidi Dache and Tencent-invested Didi Dache, which together are valued at about US$6 billion, did not disclose details of their respective shares in the merger.

However, Didi, the larger of the two companies based on user numbers, reportedly will own the larger stake of between 52 to 55 per cent.

Didi's founder and chief executive officer, Cheng Wei, and Kuaidi head Lu Chuanwei will be joint CEOs of the new merged company.

"The new company after the merger will be an important provider in the global mobile transport sector," Kuaidi and Didi said in a joint announcement on Valentine's Day.

Despite the merger, the erstwhile fierce rivals will retain their respective brands and independent operations, they said.

The development comes after leading taxi-booking provider, US-based Uber, secured Baidu's backing in December to help it expand in China, one of the world's largest markets for mobile transport services.