China: Does Taxi-app merger break regulations? Experts unsure

Experts are divided over whether the merger of two major taxi-hailing app companies violates the country’s Anti-Monopoly Law.

Didi Dache and Kuaidi Kuaidi Dache said on February 14 they will merge into new company led by co-CEOs. The new firm’s name and ownership structure will be announced later.

Kuaidi, which is backed by e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., had 56.5 percent of the country’s market for taxi-hailing apps as of December.

Their dominance in that market has raised concerns among other industry players and experts over whether the new firm will enjoy a monopoly. Two days after the merger announcement, Yidao Yongche, a provider of upscale online car-hire services, complained to the Ministry of Commerce and the National Development and Reform Commission that the merger was illegal.

However, Fu Weigang, a research fellow at the Shanghai Institute of Finance and Law, has said the tie-up was not an attempt to stop others from entering the market and will not violate the anti-trust law as long as it does not hurt consumers.

Full Content: Caixin Online

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