AUS
NZ
UK
CA
USA
IND
.jpg)
Summary
- DiDi made its US debut on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol DIDI on Wednesday.
- The stock opened 11% down after the Chinese probe announcement on Friday.
- The company gathers user data on trips, locations, and audio records during every ride.
Chinese ride-hailing company DiDi Global, Inc. (DIDI) fell 5% at the market close on Friday, July 2, after Beijing said it launched a probe into the company to safeguard national data security interests.
The development comes just two days after the Beijing-headquartered company made a stock market debut in the US, in one of the year’s biggest initial public offerings, raising about US$4 billion.
China’s Cyberspace Administration said on Friday that it launched an investigation into the company’s activities to safeguard national security. It ordered the company to stop registering new users until the probe is over, noting that it may increase the security risk.
DiDi made its US debut on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol DIDI on Wednesday. On Friday, the stock opened 11% down after the Chinese announcement.
Beijing had launched new cybersecurity measures last year. It has since been stepping up inspections on big tech companies for possible breaches of data security laws. An ordinary probe into data security-related issues can last a month and up to 45 days in complex cases, said the Financial Times.
Source: Pixabay.
DiDi’s ride-hailing platform is used by some 370 million consumers and 13 million drivers annually, which could raise the risk of a greater impact from a data breach. The company gathers information on trips, user locations, and audio records during every ride. In 2018, the Chinese regulators investigating passenger murders had reprimanded the company for not sharing enough user data. However, the company has not encountered any complaints related to data leaks so far.
Also Read: DiDi Global NYSE IPO: Here’s all you need to know
DiDi was valued at US$68.49 billion after the first day of trading on the NYSE on Wednesday. It was one of the biggest IPOs by a Chinese company since the Alibaba Group's IPO in 2014. DiDi offered 316.8 million American depositary shares at US$14 apiece. The stock opened higher at US$16.65. DiDi is backed by several big investors like the SoftBank Group. Some 29 Chinese companies have made a US stock market debut so far this year, raising around US$7.6 billion, EODHD/Others data show.
