The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) have asked embattled ride-hailing company Didi Global’s executives to come up with a plan to delist from US bourses, an unprecedented request that will reignite concerns about Beijing’s intentions for the Chinese tech industry, reports Bloomberg. The CAC, China’s tech regulator, wants Didi to be removed from the New York Stock Exchange due to concerns around sensitive data leakage, according to people familiaar with the matter.
Proposals under consideration include a straight-up privatization or a share float in Hong Kong followed by a delisting from the US, the people added. If the privatization proceeds, the proposal will likely be at least the $14 IPO price since a lower offer so soon after the June initial public offering could prompt lawsuits or shareholder resistance, the people said. If there is a secondary listing in Hong Kong, the IPO price would probably be a discount to the share price in the US, $8.11 as of Wednesday’s close.
Shares in SoftBank Group, Didi’s biggest minority shareholder, slid more than 5% in Tokyo. Chinese tech stocks including Tencent Holdings., another big Didi backer, retreated in Hong Kong. Didi plunged as much as 7.5% in the first minutes of trading Friday in New York, the biggest intraday drop in more than a month.
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