Didi seeks $6b funding

hong kong/beijing — Didi Chuxing, China’s top ride-hailing firm, is set to become the country’s second-most valuable privately owned company, with a valuation of more than $50 billion, through a fund raising round of up to $6 billion, sources said on Thursday.

The valuation represents a jump from Didi’s $34 billion price tag in August, when it agreed to acquire Uber Technology Inc’s China business, and also puts it closer to the US firm’s $68 billion.

It also propels Didi well above Xiaomi Inc, which held the title of China’s most valuable startup after a 2014 funding round valued the smartphone maker at $46 billion. Ant Financial, China’s most valuable private internet finance firm and an affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd , is valued upwards of $60 billion.

The funding round has drawn investors including Japan’s Softbank Group Corporation, private equity firm Silver Lake Partners, China Merchants Bank and Bank of Communications, two people familiar with the matter said. — Reuters