중국의 양대 차량 공유 서비스인 디디추싱과 우버차이나가 합병한다.
기업 가치는 350억 달러(한화 약 39조 원)에 달하며 우버는 지분 20%를 가져가며 합병 회사의 최대 주주가 된다. 지분은 우버 미국 본사를 포함, 바이두 등 우버차이나 투자자에게 배당된다.
우버차이나 사업 운영은 디디추싱이 맡고, 우버는 중국 시장에서 점차 손을 뗄 것으로 보인다. 디디추싱은 향후 우버에 10억 달러(한화 약 1조1천억 원)를 투자할 예정이다. 우버는 당분간 중국 내에서 독립된 서비스로 운영된다.
우버의 이번 합병 결정은 디디추싱과의 출혈 경쟁을 멈추는 것이 장기적인 수익 관점에서 더 낫다고 판단했기 때문으로 보인다. 우버는 2015년 상반기에만 20억 달러(한화 약 2조2천 억 원)의 손실을 봤다.
우버의 트래비스 칼라닉 대표는 자신의 블로그를 통해 “창업가로서 성공하기 위해서는 가슴 뿐 아니라 머리(이성)의 소리도 따라야 함을 배웠다”면서, “우버와 디디추싱은 중국에 수십억 달러를 투자했지만 아직까지 수익을 내지 못하고 있으며, 장기적인 관점에서 중국의 승객과 운전자, 도시에 가장 좋은 서비스를 오래 지속하기 위해서는 수익성을 확보해야 한다”고 속마음을 밝혔다.
한편 지난 주 중국 정부는 차량 공유 서비스를 합법화하는 방안을 내놓아, 향후 중국 내 차량 공유 산업의 성장 가능성은 한층 더 커진 상황이다.
아래는 1일 오후 6시(한국시간) 트래비스 칼라닉 우버 CEO가 페이스북에 포스팅한 내용이다.
I sent an email to my UberChina team regarding the merger of UberChina and Didi. I thought I would share here on the news and what has been one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve had as an entrepreneur.
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Team,
I wanted to let you know that we have reached an agreement to merge UberChina with Didi Chuxing. UberChina’s value will represent a 20% stake in the combined entity with Uber being Didi’s largest shareholder.
Let me explain why we are doing this.
Three years ago, a small group of us went on a scouting mission to Beijing to see how we could expand into China.
It was a big, bold idea, especially given that Uber was still a relatively small start-up and no one in China had ever even heard of us. And of course, anytime we got into a discussion about our efforts in China, most people thought we were naive, crazy – or both. We saw things differently of course. China is an inspiring country with astonishing opportunity. Many of the world’s mega cities are Chinese, and their thirst for transportation innovation is second to none. Uber’s mission to make “transportation as reliable as running water, everywhere for everyone” resonates especially strongly in China.
Being an entrepreneur means you are an explorer by nature, doing what everyone thinks is impossible but with an optimistic perspective on the unknown. Uber entered this uncharted territory in February 2014, two years after Didi was founded. We were a young American business entering a country where most US internet companies had failed to crack the code, and with a product that needed rebuilding. Our China effort has been one of Uber’s most entrepreneurial because we literally had to start from scratch.
Since launching just over two years ago, we have expanded to over 60 cities in China and we are serving over 40 million rides per week. Our team is now 800 strong, nobly serving their cities. Our philosophy on people has always been to hire the best of the best and our incredible success in China is due to all of you. You are the smartest and most entrepreneurial sons and daughters of China whose mission has been to build a transportation system in every Chinese city, and to serve those cities and to serve the people.
In the startup community in Beijing and across China, our people and our systems for empowering them have set the gold standard for Chinese technology companies. Your efforts — and the efforts of our China engineering and product teams back in San Francisco — have not only been been an inspiration to our thousands of employees globally but to me personally.
However, as an entrepreneur, I’ve learned that being successful is about listening to your head as much as following your heart. Sustainably serving China’s cities, and the riders and drivers who live in them, is only possible with profitability. This merger paves the way for our team and Didi’s to partner on an enormous mission, and it frees up a substantial resources for bold initiatives focused on the future of cities — from self-driving technology to the future of food and logistics.
Uber is a better, stronger company because of our China experience. Didi has been a fierce competitor and I respect all that Didi and their team have accomplished. UberChina certainly rose to the occasion and your hustle and work ethic is the stuff of legend. Working with and learning from all of you in this remarkable China journey has been one of the great experiences in my life.
I want to thank Yanqi, Kate, Gang, Cleo, Zhen, Allen and the entire UberChina team for getting us to this point. A big shout out as well to our UberChina product and engineering team, led by Han, Vinay and Pedram, for all their hard work and creativity. China was a big bet for us and I’m incredibly proud of everything we have achieved. I will be doing an All Hands to talk to you all about our new journey forward, and how we will work with our new partner in serving China and her cities. Stay tuned for the exact time–Allen will send a note around shortly.
With much UberChina love,
Travis
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