Department of Commerce conducts anti-monopoly investigation on Didi and Uber’s first month of amalgamation

Gasgoo (Shanghai, September 18^th)—On September 2ed, Department of Commerce said on its press conference that, Didi and Uber hadn’t submitted any stuff about their amalgamation. Currently, Department of Commerce has conducted an anti-monopoly investigation and scheduled meetings twice with Didi for their transaction details, reasons for failing to submit, and demanded Didi to submit relevant papers.

Previously, Department of Commerce has made it clear that, according to relevant stipulation made by State Council, the two sides should apply and submit papers for the above amalgamation.

Just one month ago, Didi announced to make a strategic agreement with Uber Global that Didi will purchase Uber China’s all assets, including brand, business and data. It’s known that Didi and Uber Global will hold each other’s shares after the acquisition. Uber Global will hold 5.89% shares of the merged company, equaling to 17.7% of Didi’s economic equities. Besides, Didi’s founder and Board Chairman Cheng Wei will join Uber Global’s Board of Directors. Uber’s founder and CEO Travis Kalanick will also join Didi’s Board of Directors. Therefore, Didi becomes the only company which is co-invested by Tencent, Alibaba and Baidu.

Details provided by Bloomberg shows that the merged company will have an estimated value of USD 35b. Other people said that Didi would invest USD 1b to Uber Global, the latest estimated value of which is USD 68b.

A popular blog article by Kalanick also fits with Bloomberg’s report. In the article, Kalanick points out that Uber receives more than 150m orders every month since it entered into China two years ago. Uber and Didi both invested several billion dollars in China, but receiving no profits. But to make profit is the only way for them to develop continuous businesses.