Uber and its primary Chinese on-demand car service rival, Didi Chuxing, have finally buried the hatchet in a landmark deal.
The California startup has been reportedly spending at least $1 billion per year
to try to dominate the massive Chinese market, while Didi Chuxing has
spent similar amounts of money trying to stave off its American rival.
According to a Monday press release, the Chinese startup will obtain "all assets of UberChina" for operation on the mainland. Earlier this year, Apple invested $1 billion in Didi Chuxing.
For its part, Uber will receive 5.89 percent
of the combined company and a 17.7 percent stake in Didi Chuxing, which
will also get a small stake in Uber.
The CEOs of the two companies, Travis Kalanick of Uber and Cheng Wei of Didi Chuxing, will join the other company’s board.
"We’ve grown super fast and are now doing more than 150 million trips a month," Kalanick wrote in a Monday blog post.
"This is no small feat given that most US technology companies struggle
to crack the code there. That’s why I’m so proud of what our amazing
China team has accomplished."
Kalanick noted that neither Uber nor Didi Chuxing have turned a profit yet.
"Getting to profitability is the only way to
build a sustainable business that can best serve Chinese riders,
drivers, and cities over the long term," he added.
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