- Didi shares rose Friday following a Bloomberg report that the city of Beijing is seeking control of the ride-hailing company.
- A consortium including a part of the Beijing Tourism Group is discussing taking a stake in Didi.
- The size of a potential investment in Didi is not yet clear, the report said.
Didi Global shares rose Friday following a Bloomberg report that Beijing's municipal government has proposed investing in the ride-hailing app in a move that would give state-run firms control of the company.
Shares of Didi were up as much as nearly 6% shortly after the opening bell Friday, trading at $9.30 as of 9:42 a.m. ET.
A preliminary proposal calls for Shouqi Group, a part of the influential Beijing Tourism Group, and other city-based firms to acquire a stake in Didi. Scenarios being weighed include the consortium taking a so-called "golden share" with veto power and a board seat, unidentified sources told Bloomberg.
The size of a potential stake is unclear and a proposal would need approval from senior government officials. Didi is currently controlled by the management team of co-founder Cheng Wei and President Jean Liu, and SoftBank Group and Uber are Didi's biggest minority shareholders.
The report said local governments have traditionally had a say in the restructuring of companies on their turf and the proposal is in line with Chinese President Xi Jinping's agenda of redistributing wealth and reducing the influence of the internet sector.
Didi shares, which began trading on the New York Stock Exchange in late June, remain below their $14 IPO. They were swept lower days after their trading debut following China's launch of a data-security review of the company. The Chinese government has also put under scrutiny large technology and other types of companies whose shares trade in the US, including e-commerce heavyweight Alibaba and internet services company Tencent.