According to two people familiar with the situation, Chinese regulators have pressed Didi’s top executives to devise a plan to delist from the New York Stock Exchange due to data security concerns.
According to one of the persons, China’s powerful Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) has asked the business’s management to delist the company from the New York Stock Exchange due to concerns about the release of sensitive data.
It also wants the ride-hailing giant to commit to resolving the delisting issue within a particular time frame, according to the source.
According to the individual, the cyberspace regulator stated that the company must agree to delist from New York before its ride-hailing and other apps may be relaunched in China.
According to the individual, proposals under consideration include a straight-up privatisation or a second listing in Hong Kong followed by delisting from the US.
The CAC ordered app shops to remove 25 Didi-operated mobile apps in July, just days after the business went public in New York. It also urged Didi to halt the registration of new users, citing national security and the public interest as justifications.
Reuters reported earlier this month that Didi is preparing to relaunch its apps in China by the end of the year, citing sources directly involved in the relaunch, in the hopes that Beijing’s cybersecurity investigation into the business would be completed by then.
On Friday, Bloomberg first reported on regulators’ proposal for Didi to be delisted. Following the disclosure, shares of Didi investors SoftBank and Tencent plunged more than 5% and 3.1 percent, respectively.
According to Didi’s June filing, SoftBank Vision Fund owns 21.5 percent of the company, followed by Uber (12.8 percent) and Tencent (6.8%).
If the privatisation goes through, shareholders will almost certainly be offered at least the $14 per share IPO price, the article stated, citing sources, because a lower offer so soon after the June sale might result in lawsuits or shareholder pushback.
Didi’s stock was down 6.3 percent at $7.60, after falling 42 percent since going public in June.
According to Reuters, the business ran afoul of Chinese regulators when it went through with its New York listing despite the regulator’s request that it be placed on hold until a cybersecurity examination of its data procedures was undertaken.
Didi was promptly investigated by the CAC for its gathering and use of personal data. It claimed that data had been gathered illegally.
