Chinese Ride-Hail to Raise $1.6B ABS for Lease Partners

Chinese ride-hailing company Didi Chuxing received approval this week from the Shanghai Stock Exchange to securitize $1.6 billion of leases originated by some of its partners. Didi acts as a middleman between leasing companies and Didi’s ride-hail drivers.

The timing of the first $47 million issuance is unknown.

“The [leasing] companies can use the funds to purchase more vehicles with the intention of leasing them to Didi drivers for use on the Didi platform,” a spokesperson told Auto Finance News. Didi declined to disclose the specific names of the lease originators.

Over the past three years, the enterprise ABS market — which includes securitizations backed by corporate accounts receivables and bond receivables, as opposed to credit ABS backed by bank loans or financial leases — has developed rapidly in China.

A March report from the China Securities Investment Funding Industry Association showed that 533 corporate asset-securitization issuances were transacted in 2017, which increased the total market size by 78% year over year to $145 billion.

Separately, in February, the company partnered with 12 automakers, including Geely Auto, KIA Motors, and Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi for a carsharing program.

Didi has more than 21 million drivers and 450 million riders on its platform.

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