Didi IPO starts trading on the NYSE

Stocks Didi Chuxing on Wednesday offered more than 17% in the initial public offering of the Chinese driving sharing giant.

The company’s shares began trading at a price of $ 16.65 per share, compared to the price of the company offering a price of $ 14 per share.

Shortly after the first trade, the market capitalization of the company jumped to over 78 billion dollars. Didi was recently estimated at $ 62 billion after the August round of fundraising, according to PitchBook data. The estimate from the first trade on Wednesday is more subdued than some $ 100 billion he predicted. Still, it ranks among the largest U.S. IPOs in the past decade.

Didi is listed on the New York Stock Exchange as demand for greeting services reciprocates in tandem with the drop in Covid-19 cases and the introduction of vaccines. American companies, Uber i Pick it up, both said they would be profitable on a customized basis by the end of this year, thanks to the recovery.

The offer also represents a financial victory for Uber, which owns a 12.8% stake in Didi after acquiring Uber’s Chinese business. SoftBank’s Vision Fund holds 21.5%. Apple also invested $ 1 billion in Didi in 2016.

Didi reported a total loss of $ 2.54 billion on revenue of $ 21.63 billion last year, but made a slight profit of $ 95 million on revenue of $ 6.44 billion in the first quarter of 2021. (Some of the company’s profitability in in the first quarter can be attributed to investment gains of $ 1.9 billion related to spin-offs and sales.)

In comparison, Uber lost $ 6.77 billion on revenue of $ 11.14 billion last year, and lost $ 108 million in revenue of $ 2.90 billion in first quarter from 2021

Between 2019 and 2020, Didi’s revenue fell by almost 10% as the Covid pandemic hit China hard last year. However, before the pandemic, revenue grew 11% between 2018 and 2019. In addition, revenue returned in the first quarter as the recovery from the pandemic is in full swing, with 107% growth in Q1 compared to the previous quarter.

Didi, which was founded in 2012, said in its IPO prospectus that it has 493 million active drivers a year and 41 million average daily transactions. It expanded internationally in 2018, and the company now operates in 14 countries outside China, with the largest contributors being Brazil and Mexico, according to a Loop research note earlier this month. Part of the proceeds collected from the IPO will also go to increase its presence in international markets.

In addition to traditional driving, Didi is investing heavily in making autonomous taxis a reality. The company recently received approval to test self-driving vehicles in Beijing.

Didi is too facing the antitrust probe in some of the largest Chinese companies. China’s market regulator, the State Administration of Market Regulation, is investigating whether Didi used any competing practices that unfairly squeezed out smaller competitors, Reuters reported. It is also reportedly investigating the company’s pricing mechanism.

Didi warned in his IPO prospectus that he had met with regulators earlier this year. The company that welcomed the ride warned that they could be fined, as regulators may not be happy with the results of the inspection.

“We cannot assure you that regulatory authorities will be satisfied with our self-inspection results or that we will not be subject to any penalties for any antitrust violations, unfair competition, prices, advertising, privacy, food safety, product quality, taxes and other related laws and regulations “We expect that these areas will receive greater and continuous attention and supervision by regulators and the general public in the future,” the company said in its prospectus.

Didi was joined by a host of other companies that went public on Wednesday, including biometric screening company Clear,, digital ad firm Taboola i cybersecurity company SentinelOne.

Didi, fourfold CNBC Disruptor 50 company, in 5th place on this year’s list.