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The rumour began when a “leaked” document appeared in Chinese tech news site iyiou.com

China’s largest ride-hailing company, Didi Chuxing, found itself in the midst of a media storm. Over the past few days, Chinese media have been chasing a rumour that Didi were planning an IPO.

On Sunday, a document appeared on iyiou.com, a Chinese tech news site. Stories concerning the IPO spread like wildfire.

The document claimed that Didi was raising funds from the public, and was planning a US IPO in 2018. The document also claimed that Didi would raise US$72 million, with each investment being worth at least US$1 million, and that with a valuation of US$87 billion after the IPO, investors could expect a rate of return of 200 per cent.

The “leaked” document (Image Credit: TechWeb)

However, Didi dismissed all the rumours as false on Monday.

“The document was obviously a faked one, with quite a few factual mistakes. Didi did not entrust any organisation or individual to raise funds from the public, and we will reserve the right to hold responsible those deceivers making up false information about Didi,” the company wrote in a statement.

In mid May, media including Reuters and Bloomberg reported on Didi’s planned IPO. Their sources were unidentified, and they added that Didi’s official spokesman had denied any plans for an IPO.

In general, Chinese media these days neglect fact-checking in pursuit of the latest scoop from the hottest tech company. It often happens that a small website would leak a rumour, and then a mass of other websites would feed and spread the rumour further.

Another rumour was that last week Didi would use Amap, replacing the Tencent Map currently in use. The rumour was strangled with Didi’s response, stating that Didi has been working closely with both Tencent Map and Amap, and that the cooperation would continue.

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Ke Jin is a writer at AllChinaTech. She graduated from the University of Edinburgh with a Master’s Degree in English and has worked on projects with Ipsos MORI and SDI Media. She’s particularly intrigued by China’s thriving technology scene and is eager to write about this flourishing industry. Feel free to email her at kim@allchinatech.com should you have any questions 🙂

The article How rumors of Didi’s “IPO” got bigger, then burst first appeared on AllChinaTech.

Image Credit: Matthew Wiebe on Unsplash

The post How rumours of Didi’s “IPO” got bigger, then burst appeared first on e27.

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