Didi Global Inc. To List On Hong Kong Stock Exchange According To Reports

China’s largest ride-hailing company Didi Global Inc. DIDIY aims to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange according to a Bloomberg report Friday.

Didi was forced to delist from the New York Stock Exchange last year after it was fined $1.1 billion by Chinese regulators and its OTC markets listing is 80% lower than its June 2021 debut price.

The Uber Technologies Inc UBER and Lyft Inc LYFT competitor was valued at as much as $80 billion before plunging to $16 billion after the year-long Chinese regulatory investigation into its practices on the mainland, while its market share there has declined in the last year from 90% to 70% today.

The China investigation, which was concluded last year, ended when officials concluded the company had violated three laws in mainland China and threatened the company’s national security. The derailing of Didi’s US listing sent a strong signal to disruptive internet upstarts in the country of the Chinese government’s determination to crack down on companies who violated national laws.

The planned Hong Kong Stock Exchange listing will give the company a presence on a major global stock exchange again for the first time since it was delisted in New York.

Softbank Group Corp SFTBY invested about $11 billion in Didi in which it holds a 20% stake now worth about a third of that, according to Bloomberg.  

The company has been repurchasing its shares from current and former employees as part of preparations for such a listing, according to Bloomberg’s sources. Didi has scrapped its plans for most overseas markets except for Brazil and Latin America, where it holds a bigger market presence.

The Hong Kong listing would give a much-needed boost to the flagging IPO market, which is having one of its worst years in 14 years in 2023. So far, the only major IPO in the pipeline this year for the exchange is Alibaba Group Holdings Limited’s BABA Cainiao Network Technology Limited spin-off which it is estimated will be listed for around $1 billion.