China’s car hailing platform Didi acquires Brazilian counterpart 99
By CGTN’s Yang Jing
["china"]
Didi Chuxing, China’s most popular ride-hailing app, announced on Thursday that it acquired Brazilian counterpart 99, in a bid to accelerate market growth in Latin America.
Although Didi did not reveal how much stake was acquired or any costs, anonymous sources cited by Reuters said that the company would hold a “significant majority” in the Brazilian firm, which was valued at more than 1 billion US dollars.
Brazilian media reported the transaction figure to be at about 300 million US dollars.
“We are confident that being part of Didi Chuxing will vastly enhance our capability to expand our services throughout Brazil,” said Peter Fernandez, CEO of 99, which has operated in 500 cities throughout Brazil and is regarded as a homegrown rival to Uber. 
Before the transaction, Didi bought a 10-percent stake in 99 as a “strategic investment” in January 2017, as a step into the world’s fastest-growing mobile Internet market.
“Globalization is a top strategic priority for Didi,” said Cheng Wei, founder and CEO of Didi, noting his company will keep advancing the industry through diversified international operations and partnerships. 
Didi has entered partnerships with seven major international players in a network that serves over 1,000 cities and reaches over 60 percent of the world's population, the company said.
After buying Uber’s Chinese operations in 2016, Didi is currently valued at about 56 billion US dollars.