Beijing-based ridesharing giant Didi Chuxing is considering raising a $6 billion round from Japanese tech conglomerate SoftBank, according to Bloomberg. If completed, the deal would be the single largest equity venture investment in history, per the PitchBook Platform. Existing backers Apple and Tencent are said to be weighing participation to avoid having their stakes in the company diluted.
Didi is no stranger to such massive rounds. Last June, the company raised $4.5 billion in equity, plus an accompanying $2.8 billion in debt. SoftBank is already among the company’s investors, as is Alibaba affiliate Ant Financial.
The potential round would be the latest of SoftBank’s many ventures in the ridesharing space. Reports emerged earlier this week that the company is working to lead a $1.5 billion investment in Grab, Uber’s main rival in Southeast Asia. And in February, SoftBank was among the investors in a new $330 million round for Ola, a ride-hailing startup based in India.
It’s unclear whether the investments in Didi and Grab would come from SoftBank itself or from its new $100 billion Vision Fund. Either way, the investor is pouring billions into ridesharing companies across the world.
Didi merged with Uber’s China business last August and was reportedly valued at roughly $34 billion with a private financing in September.
PitchBook subscribers can check out this list of the largest VC fundings on record, which includes companies such as Uber, Snap and Airbnb.
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Article by Dana Olsen, PitchBook
