China’s biggest ride-hailing company, Didi Global, aims to list its shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange next year.
This is according to a report by Bloomberg News today (Oct 13), citing sources familiar with the matter.
Didi failed to respond on the matter, after requests for comments from Reuters.
The ride-hailing firm, which delisted from the New York Stock Exchange in 2022, broke Chinese laws by pushing ahead with a $4.4 billion listing in the U.S in July 2021.
A majority of shareholders approved that plan in May last year.
The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), who launched an investigation into Didi just days after the firm made its debut in New York, said the probe was carried out to protect national security and the public interest.
Previously, Didi was banned by Chinese regulators from taking on new users. Its app was not accessible from mid-2021 until January 2023.
The firm was reportedly fined $1.2 billion in July 2022 over data-security breaches.
Didi has contemplated a Hong Kong listing previously, Reuters has reported, with a listing by introduction where new capital is not raised as one option.
The regulatory intervention against Didi prompted an immediate freeze on Chinese companies’ ambitions to list in the United States, and new share sale activity has yet to be bounce back.
Chinese authorities have since implemented a tough range of new laws that companies wanting to hold an overseas listings have to meet before carrying out an IPO. – Reuters
