Ride-Hailing Giant Didi Eyes IPO, Could Raise $9 Billion

Didi Chuxing Technology Co. is preparing for an initial public offering (IPO), Bloomberg reported on Friday (March 19), citing people familiar with the plans. An IPO for the Chinese ride-hailing giant could raise as much as $9 billion, making it one of the largest tech IPOs in the world for 2021, and boosting the company’s valuation above the $62 billion given at its last funding round, the report noted.

No plans have been made on where the company would list, but it could announce the IPO as soon as next quarter or later this year, depending on the length of negotiations.

After facing obstacles from regulators and the global pandemic, “Didi wants to capitalize on the red-hot market for China IPOs,” Brock Silvers, chief investment officer at Hong Kong-based private equity fund Kaiyuan Capital, told Bloomberg.

Didi has seen revenues and daily rides already topping pre-pandemic levels and reaching record highs, per the report. The company operates in 14 countries outside of China, mainly in Latin America. After launching in Russia last summer, Didi has recently made plans to enter Western European countries like the U.K., France and Germany.

The ride-hailing giant is also looking to expand the development and testing of its self-driving technology. Didi recently closed a funding round that brought in $300 million for the unit.

SoftBank and its Founder Masayoshi Son would also reap benefits from a Didi IPO. Son reportedly invested $10 billion in Didi, Bloomberg noted. The company has recently ridden the wave of several successful IPOs of companies it has invested in, including Coupang and DoorDash.

Didi stayed mum on a possible IPO, telling Bloomberg: “Didi doesn’t comment on market speculation and doesn’t have a definite IPO plan or timeline.”