Uber selling its China business to local archrival Didi in US$35b deal

The logo of Didi Chuxing is seen at its headquarters in Beijing, China, May 18. PHOTO: REUTERS

BEIJING (REUTERS) - China's dominant ride hailing firm Didi Chuxing will buy Uber Technologies's operations in China in a deal that will end bruising competition between the two firms, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The deal between the pair - which have been spending heavily to gain market share, increasing new funding needs - could be announced as early as Monday (Aug 1), the paper said, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter.

Bloomberg separately reported that the combined company would be valued at US$35 billion (S$46.8 billion) and that investors in Uber China, owned by San Francisco-based Uber, Baidu Inc and others, would receive a 20 per cent stake in the combined company.

Uber and Didi could not be immediately reached for comment.

The deal, if confirmed, would come after China last week issued guidelines that establish a long-awaited framework for the booming industry and remove uncertainty for firms such as Didi and Uber.

Didi itself was created last year from the merger of two companies backed separately by e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding and social network firm Tencent Holdings.

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