Didi Says Reports Of NYSE Delisting Untrue

Ride-hail superstar Didi squashed rumors that it was considering an exit from the public markets.

In a Thursday (July 29) statement, DiDi said The Wall Street Journal reported that the company is considering going private. “The Company affirms that the above information is not true,” Didi said in its statement.

“The Company is fully cooperating with the relevant government authorities in China in the cybersecurity review of the Company,” Didi also noted in its statement.

The WSJ article cited unnamed sources “familiar with the matter” and indicated that Didi was considering the move to go private as one way to appease Chinese watchdogs and compensate investors. 

Didi has reportedly been behind closed doors with bankers, investors and regulators to devise a game plan that would pull it out of regulatory hot water with Chinese watchdog officials, per the WSJ article.

Headquartered in Beijing, Didi started trading June 30 on the New York Stock Exchange and days later was hit by watchdog investigations that culminated in an onsite cybersecurity review with regulators from seven agencies in China. The investigation is ongoing.

Regulators investigating Didi include the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of State Security, the Cyberspace Administration of China, the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Natural Resources.

Didi raised about $4.4 billion in its initial public offering (IPO) and debuted as the biggest stock sale by a Chinese company since Alibaba’s 2014 listing.

Beijing is also instituting new rules for any Chinese companies planning to file publicly in the U.S. Ant Group $37 billion initial public offering (IPO) was halted, as was TikTok owner ByteDance and others.