Booking Holdings to invest $500mn in Didi Chuxing

Booking Holdings Inc, the travel platform company which owns Booking.com is set to invest $500mn in Chinese ride-hailing company Didi Chuxing.

Booking Holdings owns several travel platforms like the Priceline and Kayak apps as well as Agoda, Rentacars.com and OpenTable.

The investment forms part of a global alliance between Booking Holdings and the ride sharing giant which pushed Uber out of China and has expanded into Mexico and Australia.

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Didi will offer rides to Booking’s app customers while users of Didi will be able to make hotel reservations using Booking’s platforms. However, the reach of these services has not been detailed.

In a statement, Todd Heinrich, head of corporate at Booking Holdings said: “Didi has clear advantages in technology and scale in the shared mobility industry.”

Stephen Zhu, Vice President of Strategy as Didi said: “Building on its leadership and expertise in the global online travel market, Booking is championing a digital revolution of travel experience. We look forward to seamlessly connecting every segment of the journey and improving everyone’s traveling experience through more collaborative innovation with the booking brands on product, technology and market development.”