Key Takeaways:
Tongcheng Travel completed its all-cash tender offer for Dida Chuxing on Aug. 21, accepting 911 million shares equal to 88.74% of the carpooling operator's issued capital while preserving its Hong Kong listing.
"Dida Chuxing will maintain its brand and operations independently after the acquisition," Tongcheng Travel said in a statement, adding that it plans to keep the carpooling company's Hong Kong stock exchange listing unchanged.
The deal, first announced June 29 through Tongcheng's eLong subsidiary, drew irrevocable commitments from five core shareholders representing 53.7% of issued capital. Dida's shares jumped 88.19% to HK$2.39 on the announcement, lifting its market value to about HK$2.453 billion, after the stock had traded at roughly nine times earnings.
The combination pairs Tongcheng's 253 million annual paying users with Dida's asset-light carpooling network, which posted a 67.2% gross margin in the first half of 2025. Tongcheng, which generated 19.4 billion yuan in 2025 revenue, gains a high-frequency local travel entry point, while Dida, profitable for seven straight years, secures a low-cost traffic source beyond its 415 million registered users.
Dida has long struggled with customer acquisition costs as an independent vertical platform with no supporting business to funnel users. Its subsidies for drivers and rewards for passengers totaled just 1.8% of transaction value from 2021 to 2023, versus a 16.7% industry average, reflecting an asset-light matching model that kept gross margins high but left order volumes shrinking in 2025. Tongcheng, by contrast, enjoys a natural traffic entrance in the WeChat ecosystem, with 2.034 billion service person-times in 2025.
The two platforms' user bases overlap in the sinking market, where 87% of Tongcheng's registered users live outside first-tier cities. Dida covers 366 cities nationwide, and its inter-city and daily commuting carpooling fills the short-distance gaps at both ends of Tongcheng's air, rail, and hotel bookings. The reverse flow could push Dida's 415 million users toward Tongcheng's hotel and ticket inventory, opening a daily-commuting-to-weekend-outings consumption chain.
For Tongcheng, folding in Dida's high-margin carpooling assets could lift overall gross profit, since transportation and accommodation together account for nearly 70% of its revenue. Dida, whose carpooling income has long exceeded 90% of total revenue, gains commission income from ticket, hotel, and scenic-spot distribution, reducing its reliance on a single business line. Tongcheng held about 9.951 billion yuan in cash and short-term investments at the end of 2025, giving it ample room to fund the acquisition without straining operations.
Carpooling accounts for just 4.4% of the domestic automobile passenger transport market, and Frost & Sullivan projects the industry will reach 103.9 billion yuan by 2028, a 29.4% compound annual growth rate from 2024. The deal marks the first time an online travel agency has made a tender offer for a carpooling company listed on the Hong Kong exchange, offering a template for travel and mobility integration that relies on scenario complementarity rather than subsidy expansion.
The transaction also reverses a prolonged valuation slide for Dida, whose shares had fallen more than 70% from their listing peak before the announcement. By keeping Dida listed and operating independently, Tongcheng preserves the carpooling company's compliance, risk-control, and driver-operations systems while funneling its own travel demand into a high-frequency scenario, extending the lifetime value of both user bases.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
