DiDi Global says it plans to delist in U.S., list in Hong Kong

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• Ride-hailing firm DiDi Global Inc. (NYSE:DIDI) said it plans to delist its shares from the New York Stock Exchange.
• The company's board has also authorized DiDi (DIDI) to pursue a listing of its class A ordinary shares on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
• DiDi, known as the "Uber of China," will organize a shareholders meeting to vote on the the delisting at an "appropriate" time in the future, according to a statement.
• The DiDi move to delist comes after Bloomberg reported last week that the Cyberspace Administration of China told DiDi to come up with a plan to pull its listing from the NYSE. The organization, which oversees data security in China, is said to be concerned about sensitive data leaking out from DiDi's (DIDI) operations.
• Didi, whose shares have dropped 44% since its IPO in late June, moved ahead with its NYSE offering despite requests from Chinese regulators that it ensure the security of its data, sparking threats of severe penalties.
• Just days after Didi (DIDI) raised nearly $5B from investors in its U.S. IPO this summer, China's Cyberspace Administration, ordered the company's app removed from app stores, noting serious issues with Didi's usage of customers' personal information.
• DIDI counted Uber (NYSE:UBER), Tencent (OTCPK:TCEHY) and Japan's Softbank (OTCPK:SFTBY) among its major pre-IPO investors.
• Uber (UBER), which reportedly has a nearly 13% stake in DiDi, has said it plans sell its stake down over time, the ride-sharing giant's CEO said last month. Softbank (OTCPK:SFTBY) reportedly sold a third of its DiDi stake in late July, to try to make up for an estimated $4B in losses from its DiDi stake amid the China crackdown.
• Investors may want to also turn their attention to logistics platform Full Truck Alliance (NYSE:YMM) and online recruiter Kanzhun (NASDAQ:BZ). The WSJ reported in October that Beijing was conducting a probe into Didi, along with Full Truck and Kanzhun, investigating whether the data-rich Chinese companies with U.S.-listings could pose a national security risk.
• Full Truck Alliance (YMM) fell 3.6% in after hours trading.
• Yesterday, China reportedly looking to block companies from going public overseas by VIEs.