<article>China’s largest ride-hailing operator <a style="color: #000080;" href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/?s=Didi+Chuxing">Didi Chuxing</a> has acquired beleaguered bike-sharing startup <a style="color: #000080;" href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/?s=Bluegogo">Bluegogo</a>, according to a report by Caixin Global citing sources close to the matter.</article>

China’s largest ride-hailing operator <a style="color: #000080;" href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/?s=Didi+Chuxing">Didi Chuxing</a> has acquired beleaguered bike-sharing startup <a style="color: #000080;" href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/?s=Bluegogo">Bluegogo</a>, according to a report by Caixin Global citing sources close to the matter.
An agreement to this effect was signed by the two companies in late December, the report added. No financial terms were disclosed.
The acquisition is being seen as a shortcut for Didi to jumpstart its own bike sharing business after feuds with bike-sharing giant <a style="color: #000080;" href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/?s=ofo">Ofo</a>, in which it holds a 25-30 per cent stake. According to a China Money Network <a href="https://www.chinamoneynetwork.com/2018/01/03/chinas-didi-rumored-buy-failed-bike-sharing-firm-bluegogo-didi-ofo-relations-worsen">report</a>, the conflict is rooted in the former&#8217;s attempts to exert greater control over the bike sharing firm and the latter&#8217;s overt resistance to such moves.
Bluegogo, China&#8217;s third-largest bike-sharing startup, <a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/chinas-bike-sharing-bubble-shows-signs-of-strain-with-bluegogo-winding-up-86729/">announced in November that it was winding up operations</a>. In a letter posted online, the company&#8217;s CEO Li Gang had then said that financing in the market had become a &#8220;bubble&#8221;. At its peak, the company claimed to have more than 20 million registered users.
Founded in 2016, Bluegogo had raised a total funding of RMB600 million ($92 million). Of this, it had raised RMB400 million at a valuation of RMB1 billion ($153.8 million) last February but still could not survive the fierce price wars from market leaders Mobike and Ofo, which have raised billions of dollars from investors including Tencent and Alibaba.
Apart from Bluegogo, Chinese bike sharing startups Coolqi and Mingbike also collapsed last year due to fierce competition in China’s overcrowded bike-sharing industry. In October last year, Shanghai-listed Changzhou Youon Public Bicycle System agreed to merge with Hellobike to better compete against its rivals.
China&#8217;s bike-sharing market appeared to be heading for greater consolidation as rumours swirled last year of Didi and <a style="color: #000080;" href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/?s=Tencent">Tencent</a>, which backs Ofo’s rival Mobike, holding talks to merge the two bike-sharing companies to create a dominant player in the fast-growing business. However, the Ofo management team reportedly disagreed with the plan.
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The acquisition is being seen as a shortcut for Didi to jumpstart its own bike sharing business after feuds with bike-sharing giant Ofo that it has backed.

Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi reportedly acquires bike-sharing firm Bluegogo

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Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi reportedly acquires bike-sharing firm Bluegogo

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