Rumors about a merger of Uber China and Didi Chuxing have gone on for a while, yet the two parties concerned have, so far, neither denied nor provided comment. However, Bloomberg reported on Monday that Uber will merge its China business with Didi – or at least that’s what Bloomberg’s source said.
The source said that the combined ride-hailing company would be valued USD 35 billion, and that investors in Uber China (including Baidu) will receive about 2% stake. Aside from this, Didi is said be to making a USD one billion investment in Uber.
The Wall Street Journal also reported on Monday that Didi is to buy Uber’s China operations, and that the deal could be announced as early as later on Monday.
Chinese media, including Tencent News and NetEase Tech are all feeding the “rumor”, despite that Didi VP Stephen Zhu and Uber China senior VP Liu Zhen had both denied the rumor, NetEase reported.
Is Uber ditching the hot potato, its China operation?
According to Reuters, Uber is losing USD one billion per year in China, where 80% of the ride-hailing business is dominated by Didi. In this view, it is understandable that Uber might want to get rid of a branch of business that has caused them trouble.
So far, AllChinaTech couldn’t reach Didi for comment.
(Top photo edited from Baidu Images)