Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi is said to be considering a US$6 billion investment by SoftBank, according to a report by Bloomberg.
This news comes off the heels of another Bloomberg report, which stated that another titan of ride-sharing, Southeast Asia-based Grab, was raising US$1.5 billion — also from SoftBank (interestingly enough, Didi and SoftBank participated in a US$600 million round in Grab).
This funding round would break records as China’s largest tech investment if it goes through. But before negotiations for the funding record can conclude, Didi needs to weigh the interests of its over 100 investors, which includes China’s sovereign wealth fund and Alibaba.
Other existing investors Tencent and Apple are said to be mulling over whether to join the investment round on a pro-rata basis, so as not to dilute their shares in the company.
Last year, Didi invested US$1 billion into its rival Uber China — a deal valued at US$35 billion that saw Uber China merge with Didi. To date, Didi has raised over US$7.4 billion over seven rounds, according to a Crunchbase report.
Despite its large pool of funds, Didi has had — and continues to — face down regulatory hurdles within China.
