- Joining forces will help promote healthy development of the rideshare industry in China
Didi Chuxing today announced a strategic agreement with Uber under which Didi Chuxing will acquire all assets of Uber China--including its brand, business operations and data--for operation within mainland China. This landmark transaction signals a new stage in the development of China's rideshare industry.
In exchange for the Uber China assets, Uber will receive 5.89% of the combined company with preferred equity interest which is equal to a 17.7% economic interest in Didi Chuxing. In addition, Baidu and other Chinese shareholders will receive a 2.3% economic interest in Didi Chuxing. Under the agreement, Didi Chuxing will also obtain a minority equity interest in Uber. Cheng Wei, founder and chairman of Didi Chuxing, will join the board of Uber. Travis Kalanick, founder of Uber, will join the board of Didi Chuxing. Additional terms were not disclosed. With this transaction, Didi Chuxing becomes the only company with common investment from Tencent, Alibaba and Baidu.
Under the agreement:
- Uber China will maintain independent branding and business operations to ensure stability and continuity of service for passengers and drivers;
- Didi Chuxing will integrate the managerial and technological experience and expertise of the two teams, to meet China's ever richer transportation demands with more value-added solutions;
- Didi Chuxing will work with regulators, peers and stakeholder groups to continue educating the market to build a healthy environment in support of the growth of China's mobile internet industry and the nation's economic development program; and
- Didi Chuxing will continue to work with global partners in connecting local resources to create the best possible cross-border ridesharing experience for their users.
Cheng Wei, founder and CEO of Didi Chuxing, said, "Didi Chuxing and Uber have learned a great deal from each other over the past two years in China's burgeoning new economy. As a technology leader deeply rooted in China, Didi Chuxing is constantly pushing the frontier of innovation to redefine the future of human mobility. This agreement with Uber will set the mobile transportation industry on a healthier, more sustainable path of growth at a higher level. Didi Chuxing commits all our energy to work with regulators, users and partners to meet the transportation, environmental and employment challenges of our cities."
Jean Liu, President of Didi Chuxing said, "Over 15 million drivers and 300 million registered users have joined DiDi's open, sharing-based ecosystem that connects people, cars and lifestyles. With the addition of the strong talents and experience of the Uber China team, Didi Chuxing will be even better-positioned to serve the Chinese people. Didi Chuxing will also continue to expand its international strategy. We look forward to working with our partners at home and abroad to create more value for drivers, passengers and communities."
As China goes through the world's greatest urbanization process, sharing economy initiatives have seen tremendous growth under the aegis of the country's innovation-friendly Internet Plus strategy. The still-fledgling rideshare market for the 1.3 billion population is showing unrivalled momentum. On July 28, China's Ministry of Transportation issued the Preliminary Rules on the Management of Online Car-Booking, the world's first national-level legislation to legalize ridesharing. We look forward to achieving the tremendous possibilities for drivers, riders and cities at this new dawn of opportunities.
About Didi Chuxing
Didi Chuxing is the world's largest comprehensive one-stop mobile transportation platform. The company offers the full range of mobile technology-based transportation options for close to 300 million users across over 400 Chinese cities, including taxi hailing, private car hailing, Hitch (social ride-sharing), Chauffeur, Didi Bus, Didi Test Drive, and Didi Enterprise Solutions. Statistics show Didi holds over 87% of the private car service market and over 99% of the taxi hailing service market in China. A total of 1.43 billion rides were completed on Didi's platform in 2015. As a practitioner in the sharing economy initiative, we are committed to work with communities and partners to solve China's transportation and environmental challenges using data-driven precision algorithms that optimize resources allocation. By continuously improving user experience and creating social values, we are committed to building an efficient, collaborative, and sustainable transportation ecosystem. Didi was named one of the World's Smartest 50 Companies 2016 by MIT Technology Review in 2016, and a Davos Global Growth Company in 2015.
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