Chuxing “go short” and acquire Didi .com? — Will Didi
The ride-hailing service is now a public firm. Will it acquire DiDi .com?
Didi Chuxing’s recent debut at NYSE (NYSE: DIDI) reminds me of the great move it made in 2016 to swallow up Uber in China. Now that it has landed in America, will it go one step further and acquire the American-owned domain Didi .com?
Since its founding in 2012, the ride-hailing startup has changed its name a number of times — first as Didi Dache, then Didi Kuaidi, and now Didi Chuxing (滴滴出行). Nevertheless, “Didi” has remained as the brand and it can be found at DidiGlobal.com.
On June 30, Didi listed on NYSE with a valuation of $68 billion. So, will Didi upgrade to Didi .com? Let’s examine three things: need, affordability, and availability.
Need. It’s obvious that they have the need since brand-matching is the norm. Many top Chinese firms follow this rule, such as Alibaba at Alibaba.com, Baidu at Baidu.com, and Suning at Suning.com. So, it’s just natural that Didi ought to be found at Didi .com.
Affordability. Didi raised $4.4 billion at the IPO, so it can pay almost any price to acquire the domain it wants. For your reference, Tesla shelled out $11 million in 2016 to acquire its brand-matching domain Tesla.com.
Availability. As stated by Wayback Machine records, Didi .com was used by Digital Image Design Incorporated from 1998 to 2020. In November 2020, the firm moved to Didi.co, and Didi .com forwards visitors to the fresh domain. This move suggests that the domain is available for buyout.
So, my answer is YES.
