Chinese passenger transport company Didi Global raised $ 4 billion in its initial public offering (IPO) in the United States, in the upper part of the indicated range, according to people familiar with the matter.
Didi sold 288 million American Depository Shares (ADS) at $ 14 each, giving Didi a valuation of around $ 73 billion on a fully diluted basis.
Didi shares began trading this Wednesday at noon on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol DIDI. In the first minutes of trading, its share price soared 28.6% to $ 18, then the mood fell and near the close of the session, the price of its shares rose about 4% to $ 14.6.
The New York IPO is the largest share sale by a Chinese company since Alibaba raised $ 25 billion in 2014. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan are the main underwriters to the IPO.
A total of 29 IPOs of Chinese companies in the United States in the first six months of the year raised $ 7.6 billion, the highest figure for that period, according to Refinitiv data.
Didi was co-founded in 2012 by former Alibaba employee Will Wei Cheng, who currently serves as CEO. Cheng was joined on this project by Jean Qing Liu, a former Goldman banker and current chairman of the ride-sharing company.
Didi is also known for successfully pulling Uber out of the Chinese market after the American company lost a price war and ended up selling its operations in the Asian giant to Didi.
Like most ride-sharing companies, Didi had historically been an unprofitable firm, until it reported a profit of $ 30 million in the first quarter of this year.
Hit by the pandemic last year, the company reported a loss of $ 1.6 billion, and an 8% drop in revenue to $ 21.63 billion.
With information from Reuters.
