Didi-Kuaidi Gobbles Up $142M Investment From Weibo
Didi Dache-Kuaidi Dache, China’s largest taxi-hailing startup which is said to account for more than 90 percent of the market share, has just revealed a US$142 million investment from Weibo, a SEC filing of the Twitter-like social network. Weibo said in the filing the investment will be made through its Cayman Islands holding company Xiaoju Kuaizhi Inc.
WeiboのSECファイリングから、WeiboのDidi Dache-Kuaidi Dacheへの1億4千2百万ドルの投資が明らかになった。Didi Dache-Kuaidi Dacheは中国最大のタクシー配車スタートアップで市場シェアの90％以上を持つ。WeiboはTwitterに似たソーシャルネットワークである。Weiboは決算資料の中で、この投資はケイマン諸島にある持ち株会社Xiaoju Kuaizhi Incを通じて実行すると述べている。
This investment comes on heel of a merger between Didi and Kuaidi in Feb this year. The valuation of the combined company is estimated to be around US$8.75 billion, Wall Street Journal reported. Although the merger is still pending regulatory approval, it is widely-acclaimed by the industry as a means to end the money-burning wars between China’s largest taxi apps.
This latest investment strengthens the new Kuaidi-Didi coalition, meaning that American entrant Uber and Chinese contender Yongche, have a challenging fight ahead. DiDi Dache, which still runs as an independent brand after the merger, announced a 1 billion yuan (US$161 million) subsidiary program in May, to offer free rides to users in 12 cities every Monday. Chinese car rental and ride-booking service Yongche announced one day before that it will offer free rides to every user on May 21st every year.
Financing support has become a prominent factor in the battle to win supremacy in the ride-sharing market. The new investment raised concerns among industry insiders that Didi Dache-Kuaidi Dache’s growth is solely dependent on investments as both companies have only very recently made moves to monetise.
However according to an insider cited by Chinese state media “Both Didi and Kuaidi have secured hefty investments before the merger and the money is sufficient to support their development. This allows them to consider more factors like cooperation opportunities when choosing partners rather than only for money.”
しかし中国メディアが消息筋情報として伝えるところによれば「DidiとKuaidiは両社とも合併前から潤沢な投資を確保しており、今後の展開にあたり資金面に問題はありません。両社はそれ以外にも色々なことを検討できる状況にあり、例えばパートナーを選択する際には単にお金だけを追求するだけでなく、協力機会を検討することが可能です。」
しかし、中国国営メディアを引き合いに出した内部者によれば、「DidiとKuaidiの両者とも合併前に相当な投資を約束されています。お金は彼らの発展を支えるのに十分です。これはお金だけのためというよりも、パートナーを選ぶ協力機会のような、より多くの要素を熟考させています。」
The tie-up between Weibo and Didi Dache-Kuaidi Dache is not so surprising since Alibaba owns an 18 percent stake in Weibo, and also stakes in the merged company through its investments in Kuaidi Dache.
Weibo spun off from Sina and went public in the U.S. last April as Weibo Inc. But, people would find it is difficult for Weibo to expand monetization approaches beyond advertising. Investment in Didi-Kuaidi may help Weibo to better commercialize its user base by providing value-added service for transportation.
WeiboはSinaからスピンオフして昨年4月に米国でWeibo Inc.として上場した。しかし、Weiboは広告を超えてマネタイゼーションの手法を広げるのは難しいだろうと考えられている。Didi-Kuaidiに対する投資は、運輸分野の付加価値サービスを提供することにより、Weiboにとってユーザーベースの有効活用となり得るだろう。
