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Chinese ride-hailing group Didi Chuxing is to delist from the New York Stock Exchange less than six months after its $4.4bn initial public offering.
In June Didi became the biggest Chinese company to list in the US since Alibaba in 2014 and the decision to move its listing to Hong Kong accelerates the decoupling of Chinese companies from US capital markets as Beijing extends its crack down on the country’s leading technology groups.
Didi said its board had authorised the delisting in New York of its American depositary shares and would begin the process of delisting and prepare to go public in Hong Kong.
Didi’s IPO, which was completed the week before the Chinese Communist party celebrated its centennial, angered party and government officials who believed the group had brushed aside their concerns related to national security and Didi’s vast trove of mapping and other sensitive data.
Comment: Didi’s US exit shows Xi Jinping is the ultimate arbiter for China’s companies, says Tom Mitchell in Singapore.
Thanks for reading FirstFT Americas. Here’s the rest of today’s news — Gordon
Five more stories in the news
1. Congress votes to avert US government shutdown The Senate last night approved legislation to keep the government funded until February 18 by a vote of 69 to 28. This followed a bill passed earlier in the day by the House of Representatives in a 221-212 vote, paving the way for it to be signed by President Joe Biden.
2. Saudi Arabia agrees to increase oil production Opec’s de facto leader agreed to keep increasing monthly crude oil production following a charm offensive by Biden administration officials that included an effort to reframe the relationship between the US and the kingdom.
3. US regulator sues to stop Nvidia’s acquisition of Arm The Federal Trade Commission has sued to block Nvidia’s cash-and-stock acquisition of UK chip design company Arm from SoftBank. The deal is valued at $82bn and has already run into scepticism from EU and UK authorities.
4. Credit Suisse chair pledges to overhaul bankers’ pay António Horta-Osório vowed at the FT’s Global Banking Summit to overhaul pay policy after a succession of crises enraged investors and sent the Swiss bank’s share price tumbling. The group will aim to engineer a cultural shift that makes employees more accountable for decisions taken on managing risk.
5. Real Madrid and Barcelona seek to thwart €2bn La Liga deal Spain’s two most successful clubs, along with Athletic Bilbao, have launched a late bid to thwart a €2bn cash injection from private equity group CVC with a counter-offer they claim is economically superior.
Coronavirus digest
Loretta Mester, president of the Cleveland Fed, has warned that the Omicron coronavirus variant threatens to fuel soaring inflation in the US by putting further pressure on supply chains and worsening worker shortages.
The Federal Reserve’s emergency lending facilities threaten to set a dangerous precedent that will increase pressure to fund all manner of government projects, including even the “colonisation of Mars”, Randy Quarles the outgoing Fed governor warned in an FT interview.
United Airlines chief executive Scott Kirby has become the first boss of a big US carrier to warn that the Omicron coronavirus variant is a threat to transatlantic travel.
The Brazilian economy entered a technical recession in the third quarter as surging inflation choked off its pandemic recovery.
Tools needed to sequence genomes are concentrated in richer countries, hindering global efforts to track coronavirus mutations.
Edward Luce: At pennies on the dollar, the US could put a stars and stripes on the fight against the pandemic and show itself capable of giving the world’s poor what they need.
The days ahead
Employment data The US economy is expected to record another strong month of job gains. Employers in the world’s largest economy are expected to have added 546,000 jobs in November, according to a consensus forecast compiled by Bloomberg – an increase from the 531,000 positions created in October. The unemployment rate is expected to fall to 4.5 per cent.
Biden-Putin meeting The presidents of the US and Russia are expected to hold a video call in the coming days. Plans for the meeting follow a heated in-person exchange in Stockholm yesterday between Antony Blinken, US secretary of state, and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov who clashed over the significance of recent troop movements on the Russia-Ukraine border.
Go deeper: In this week’s Rachman Review the Financial Times chief foreign affairs columnist discusses rising tensions between Moscow and the west and asks is Russia on the brink of war with Ukraine?
French presidential pick France’s centre-right Les Républicains party will choose its candidate tomorrow to stand against incumbent Emmanuel Macron in next April’s presidential election. Anti-immigration polemicist Eric Zemmour earlier this week declared his candidacy as the race to occupy the Elysee Palace hots up.
What else we’re reading
Is Apple the latest meme stock? Moves this week made the Apple share price resemble a “meme stock” rather than one of the world’s most valuable companies. Experts point to interest from retail investors on bulletin boards like Reddit’s r/WallStreetBets and an explosion in options trading linked to the iPhone maker.
Angels angered as lobbyists shape Biden’s tax reforms Investors in small businesses are furious at a proposed tax change in Joe Biden’s Build Back Better bill. Reform of the Qualified Small Business Stock framework has exposed the grubby nature of the Washington lobbying machine, writes Gillian Tett.
Petrol prices bruise car drivers in US gig economy Drivers for ride-hailing and delivery apps and analysts covering the sector say that on top of changes in payment algorithms, the 59 per cent rise in the cost of petrol over the past 12 months has sent chills through the industry.
The problem with vanishing cash Claer Barrett is all for exposing children early to money and payments, but what worries our consumer editor is the invisibility of digital transactions. “Do children realise that actual money is being spent, or think this ‘magic card’ simply makes everything possible?” she asks as part of our Financial Literacy and Inclusion Campaign.
Reader call out: Are you a teenager or do you know a teen who is interested in writing about finance? The FT is looking for submissions from budding writers, with the offer of a cash prize for the best entries.
Travel
The pandemic has led to the cancellation of Germany’s 500-year-old Rothenburg Christmas market for the second year in a row. But the town’s residents are determined to keep the festive spirit alive.
Source: Economy - ft.com
