Didi Chuxing, China’s Ride-Hailing Giant, Holds Talks With SoftBank
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Masayoshi Son, the leader of SoftBank, at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February. A deal with SoftBank could help Didi Chuxing contend with a rash of difficulties. CreditAlberto Estevez/European Pressphoto Agency
HONG KONG — Didi Chuxing, a company in China that last year bested Uber in that huge ride-sharing market, is in negotiations to get SoftBank of Japan to take part in a multibillion-dollar investment round, according to people familiar with the talks.
Should a deal be reached, it could be the latest big bet that SoftBank’s eccentric leader, Masayoshi Son, has placed on a significant technology company. Mr. Son has been raising $100 billion for what he calls the SoftBank Vision Fund and has already pledged to invest $50 billion and create 50,000 jobs in the United States. While it is unclear whether that fund is involved in the talks over Didi Chuxing, analysts say it could be further used to make sizable investments in big, global tech companies…
Didi Chuxing, China’s Ride-Hailing Giant, Holds Talks With SoftBank
