The logo for mobile taxi-hailing and car service app Didi Chuxing is seen in Hangzhou city, East China's Zhejiang province, Sept  4, 2018. (PHOTO / IC)

Chinese ride-hailing company Didi Chuxing has filed confidentially with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

The company, which has tapped Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Morgan Stanley as underwriters, is aiming to raise several billion dollars in the listing, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private.

It could be valued at as much as US$70 billion to US$100 billion, said the people.

The size and timing of the listing could still change.

Didi is also exploring a potential dual listing in Hong Kong at a later time, one of the people added.

Didi, backed by SoftBank Group Corp, had accelerated its IPO plan as business rebounded post-pandemic. It is raising US$1.5 billion through a revolving loan facility to shore up capital ahead of the listing, Bloomberg News reported on Friday.

Didi, backed by SoftBank Group Corp, had accelerated its IPO plan as business rebounded post-pandemic. It is raising US$1.5 billion through a revolving loan facility to shore up capital ahead of the listing, Bloomberg News reported

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Didi’s share sale comes as Grab Holdings Inc., the Southeast Asian ride-hailing and delivery giant, has attracted backing from T. Rowe Price Group Inc. and Temasek Holdings Pte for its planned merger with a blank-check company, people with knowledge of the matter said.

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Singapore-based Grab aims to announce the SPAC merger as soon as next week, the people said. The deal could value Grab at more than US$34 billion, the people said. The deal could become the biggest SPAC merger ever, according to data complied by Bloomberg, and would see the startup become one of the first Southeast Asian unicorns to go public through a blank-check company.

Reuters had reported that Didi could be filing in April.

Didi, the Chinese version of Uber Technologies Inc, acquired its US rival’s Chinese mainland business in 2016.