China’s Ride-Hailing Giant Didi Plans Separate IPO of Grocery Business

Didi Chuxing, a Chinese ride-hailing giant that plans to go public in New York this summer, is already making plans to spin off its newly created grocery-delivery service a year or two after the initial public offering.

Didi executives have told investors in the grocery service that it intends to take the grocery business public sometime between 2022 and 2023, according to a person familiar with the matter, though the exact timing hasn’t been finalized. The discussions around an eventual spinoff occurred in recent weeks as Didi raised fresh funds for the unit, called Chengxin Youxuan, including $1.2 billion from existing investors Citic Private Equity and angel investor Wang Gang. As part of the fundraising, Didi purchased $3 billion in Chengxin’s convertible bonds.