The combined company, Didi Kuaidi, accounts for 99 percent of the country’s online taxi business and 78 percent of its private car business—a total of 8 million rides a day, according to researcher Analysys International. In July the company raised an additional $2 billion from investors including Alibaba, Tencent, and Temasek Holdings, the investment arm of the Singaporean government, and boosted its value to $15 billion. This latest funding round has one clear purpose: keeping Uber in Didi’s rearview mirror.
Uber has 11 percent of the country’s private car business and is raising $1 billion to claim more. In a June message to investors, Chief Executive Officer Travis Kalanick said expanding in China is Uber’s top global priority and that he plans to put Uber in more than 60 Chinese cities, up from 11, within a year.
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