Uber中国与滴滴合并不再烧钱大战？柳甄明确表示纯属谣言
雷帝网 雷建平 7月21日报道
今日有外媒报道称，Uber投资者有意与滴滴签署合作协议，股东开始协商潜在交易可能性。
Uber股东给管理层传递信息，称是时候结束在中国与滴滴的烧钱战争。滴滴和Uber股东已在讨论潜在可能性，有一个Uber投资人说，他至少与滴滴的股东有10场会议和电话沟通。
Uber股东要求合并的原因是，Uber在中国一年烧钱至少是10亿美元。为此，Uber将把中国业务卖给滴滴出行，并成为滴滴出行的股东，中国打车出行市场格局尘埃落地。
Uber和滴滴都是独角兽公司，前者估值高达680亿美元，后者估值达280亿美元。这是全球最大的两家打车出行平台公司。这一传闻传出，Uber和滴滴的中国用户纷纷表示反对。
对此，Uber中国战略负责人柳甄今日在朋友圈表示：“刚到昆明，我们的新城市，深吸一口气——纯属谣言，增长很快，我们很忙，无暇回复。”
Uber中国官方今日发表声明称：对谣言和揣测一向不予置评。
Uber中国表示，2016年二季度，优步在中国发展非常迅猛，下沉式战略推动优步加速增长，增城夺地，过去半年多运营城市数已达到60多个城市，并已在多个城市取得市场领先地位。
“整体每单成本相比去年同期下降了80%，有些城市每单成本比竞争对手低 20%至30%。”
Uber中国还称，运营效率持续提高和战略级产品拼车业务的快速增长，是优步在中国实现快速增长的秘诀。优步拼车产品人民优步+ (uberPOOL) 每月在中国15座城市的订单总量已超过3000万单，已在一半的城市取得盈亏平衡，包括在多个一、二线城市盈利。
滴滴出行高级副总裁陶然对雷帝网明确表示，Uber中国与滴滴出行合并的传闻是假的。滴滴官方表示传闻是假的，称滴滴并无类似计划，也不对市场流言做过多评论。
资料显示，滴滴出行2016年6月宣布完成新一轮45亿美元的股权融资，新投资方包括Apple、中国人寿及蚂蚁金服等。腾讯、阿里巴巴、招商银行及软银等现有投资人也都参与本轮融资。
招商银行还将为滴滴牵头安排达25亿美元的银团贷款，中国人寿对滴滴进行20亿人民币（约3亿美元）的长期债权投资。这也意味着，滴滴本轮融资的实际总额高达73亿美元。
同样是2016年6月，Uber公司确认获得了来自沙特公共投资基金(Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia)总价35亿美元的最新投资。
柳甄表示：Uber新一轮融资非常顺利，目前本轮已吸引资金远超50亿美元，并还继续在增加。同样的，融资对于中国优步也意义非凡，资金的大部分将被用于支持中国业务增长。
分析人士指出，在中国出行市场，Uber和滴滴在筹集资金方面处于旗鼓相当的局面，都很难消灭对方。持续的烧钱，对股东来说并非好事，这或许是股东希望两者合并的重要原因。
比如，稍早彭博报道援引知情人士的话就表示，几个机构投资者正敦促Uber与中国市场的领头羊滴滴出行达成合作协议，以期叫停Uber为在中国市场扩张正支出的数十亿美元。
另附外媒关于滴滴和Uber此事的报道
Uber Investors Said to Push for Didi Truce in Costly China Fight
Uber Technologies Inc. investors have a message for management: It’s time to wrap up the costly fight in China.
Several institutional investors are pushing the ride-hailing company to ink a partnership agreement with China’s market leader Didi Chuxing, according to people familiar with the matter, stemming the billions of dollars Uber is spending to expand in the region.
Investors in Uber and Didi have discussed a potential deal, though the companies’own executives would need to negotiate any truce, the people said, asking not to be identified as the discussions aren’t public. One Uber investor said he’s had more than 10 meetings and calls with Didi shareholders that want the companies to cut a deal. He declined to discuss the identity of the investors.
Uber and Didi are bleeding cash in China as they fight for dominance in the world’s most populous country.
Uber has said that it is spending at least $1 billion a year to expand its business in the country. Both are giving out incentives for drivers and free rides to compete for market share.
She also met this year with Emil Michael, Uber’s senior vice president of business, another person said. The people declined to discuss whether the conversations included explicit talk of a deal or partnership.
The two companies are not currently discussing a deal, a separate person familiar with the matter said.
Negotiating Power
With both companies asserting their intent to grow independently, executives at Uber and Didi are concerned that appearing open to a deal could undercut their negotiating leverage with each other, the people said. Didi is in the lead on its home turf, with 14 million drivers signed up in 400 Chinese cities. Uber has set a target of operating in 100 cities this year.
Uber set up a separate corporate entity to insulate its Chinese business, which has gathered local Chinese investors. Still, the parent company has also invested its own money, keeping the units financially intertwined.
Among private technology companies, the rivals are giants. Uber, which was last valued at nearly $68 billion, says it has access to more than $11 billion in cash and equity. Didi, which was last valued at $28 billion, says it has more than $10 billion at its disposal in cash and equity.
That cash has been accumulated, at least in part, in an attempt to signal a willingness to continue spending in China. Many investors believe Uber and Didi are playing a game of chicken — burning cash and waiting for their competitor to concede defeat or come to the table.
Outside of China, business is faring better. Uber has said that it is profitable in the U.S. and Canada. But its profits in the developed world are being offset by losses in developing markets.
One potential roadblock to a partnership agreement is how fees would be split, according to one of the people. Didi would want more of the combined revenue share than Uber would be willing to give up, the person said. Investors have also proposed that Uber China be absorbed by Didi, with Uber becoming a minority shareholder in the Chinese company, another person said.
A representative for Uber declined to comment. Didi Chuxing and its external media advisers Brunswick didn’t respond to multiple e-mailed requests for comment.
Didi’s no stranger to partnering with peers. The company has already formed a global coalition with Lyft Inc. in the U.S., India’s Ola and Southeast Asia’s Grab.
Its $100 million investment in Lyft, Uber’s main U.S. ride-hailing competitor, further complicates potential negotiations. Lyft has hired the boutique investment bank Qatalyst Partners LP to explore deal options, a person familiar with the matter said in June.
Investor Pressure
A string of recent mergers in China set a precedent for investors getting what they want, despite initial reluctance from company founders.
Didi and its previous nemesis, Hangzhou Kuaidi Technology Co., combined in early 2015 to form China’s largest taxi hailing service, after pressure from investors including Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Tencent Holdings Ltd. Last October, online travel companies Ctrip.com International Ltd. and Qunar Cayman Islands Ltd. followed suit, agreeing to merge.
Having raised more than $15 billion, Uber has a long bench of investors from venture capitalists and hedge funds to sovereign wealth funds. Shareholders’ money is currently locked up indefinitely as CEO Travis Kalanick has said he’ll wait as long as possible to go public.
Stemming losses in China is one of the main things holding up Uber’s potential initial public offering, according to people familiar with the matter, alongside the company’s regulatory battles. At its current private valuation, Uber is not only one of the biggest closely held technology startups, but also bigger than 85 percent of the companies in the S&P 500 Index.
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