Didi’s shares dip below offer price, but not before ride-hailing app granted US$3 billion in pre-IPO options to executives
- Chinese ride-hailing giant granted 66.7 million share options to an unnamed group of executives and directors as part of an incentive plan in the second quarter
- Didi is facing an inquiry into its data collection practices by Chinese authorities
Under the company’s equity incentive plan, an unnamed group of executives and directors received 66.7 million share options with a “nominal exercise price” per share, with the bulk of the options going to senior management on an “accelerated and vested fully” basis, the company said in an updated regulatory filing just days before its June 30 trading debut.
Didi said the awards would result in US$3.03 billion in share-based compensation expenses in its second-quarter results, as well as additional expenses of US$136.4 million in connection with the immediate vesting.
The options may rankle as investors rue their losses in a stock that has fallen nearly 11 per cent below its IPO price in the four trading days since going public.
Didi’s stock plunged by as much as 25 per cent overnight in New York before clawing back some of the losses to close 20 per cent down, as investors digested the implications of an order by China’s regulators to remove its smartphone application from app stores.
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China’s self-driving RoboTaxi hits the road
