China taxi apps Didi Dache and Kuaidi Dache announce $6 billion tie-up

By Gerry Shih BEIJING (Reuters) - Didi Dache and Kuaidi Dache, two of China's leading taxi-hailing apps, said on Saturday they would merge to create one of the world's largest smartphone-based transport services. Didi chief executive Wei Cheng and Kuaidi chief Dexter Chuanwei Lu would become co-chief executives and formally introduce the new business after the Lunar New Year, which begins on Feb. 19, the companies said. Didi and Kuaidi, backed by Chinese Internet giants Tencent Holdings Ltd and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, respectively, have been locked in a bitter price war for the past year as each seeks to corner the massive Chinese market despite rumors of mounting losses. Didi was estimated to have a roughly 55 percent market share, with Kuaidi claiming nearly all of the rest in a December study by Analysis International.



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