Quick Take: Didi Picks Up $500 Million from U.S. Travel Platform

Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing has nabbed a $500 million investment from Booking Holdings Inc., a U.S.-based online travel services platform, the company announced on Tuesday.

The investment was part of a bigger partnership between the companies to offer a “more comprehensive and personalized quality travel experiences across the world,” Didi said in the statement.

With the deal, Booking Holding’s affiliates will be able to incorporate Didi’s technology to improve its on-demand car services. And Didi customers will have the option to book hotels through Booking.com or Agoda, two of Booking’s major brands.

“DiDi has clear advantages in technology and scale in the shared mobility industry. We believe that together we can offer smarter transportation services to our brands’ customers, and help DiDi’s customers with seamless access to the products and services the brands in our company provide throughout the world.” said Todd Henrich, head of corporate development for Booking Holdings.

Booking Holdings operates in more than 220 countries and territories through its major brands, which also include Kayak, Priceline.com, Rentacars.com and OpenTable.

The tie-up with Booking Holdings is Didi’s latest effort to expand its services globally. Last month, Didi debuted a new brand in Australia, marking its second move overseas in two months.

Didi — which is valued at more than $50 billion and controls more than 90% of China’s ride-hailing market — has built up a global network through investments and partnerships with ride-hailing businesses that operate on five continents. In April, it introduced a local app under its own brand in Mexico, its first overseas destination.

Contact reporter Mo Yelin (yelinmo@caixin.com)