Foxconn invests $120m in China's Didi Chuxing
Foxconn Technology Group has invested $119.9 million in China-based ride-hailing platform Didi Chuxing at a valuation of $33.7 billion.
The Taiwan-headquartered contract electronics manufacturer - which supplies Apple, Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Sony, among others - said in a regulatory filing that its subsidiary Foxteq Holdings had acquired 3.13 million shares in Didi for $38.23 apiece. This amounts to a 0.35% stake in the company.
Didi closed its latest round of funding in June, having received $4.5 billion in equity and $2.8 billion in debt. The valuation was said to be in excess of $25 billion. Apple, China Life Insurance and Alibaba Group affiliate Ant Financial all contributed capital, as did existing backers such as Tencent Holdings, SoftBank and China Merchants Bank.
Subsequent to that announcement, several other companies have revealed investments in Didi. Poly Real Estate Group committed RMB2.5 billion ($380 million) to the company at a valuation of $26 billion - as part of the $7.3 billion round - while China Post invested an undisclosed sum. It was not specified whether China Post or Foxconn were participating alongside other investors.
Didi was formed in 2015 through the merger of rival players Didi Dache and Kuaidi Dache, both of which had already received substantial private funding and were engaged in an aggressive price war. In August, the company announced it would acquire Uber's local operation in a deal that valued the combined entity at $35 billion.
Didi claims to be the world's largest mobile travel platform, with 300 million registered users, 15 million registered drivers and booking services that include but are not limited to taxis, limousines, shuttles, car-pooling, and designated drivers. It has also formed a global strategic partnership with India's Ola, Southeast Asia's Grab and US-based Lyft, and separately made investments in each one.
Foxconn has made a number of high-profile technology investments across Asia. In India, it has co-led a $175 million round for mobile messaging app Hike and a $500 million investment in online retailer Snapdeal. Foxconn also made a $236 million investment in SoftBank's robotics business alongside Alibaba and is a backer of Best Logistics Technologies, a China logistics operator that recently raised $760 million.
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