Lawyers from Carey Olsen’s corporate and finance practice in the Cayman Islands have advised 99, the Brazilian ride-sharing application and Uber competitor, on its sale to China’s Didi Chuxing.
Lawyers from Carey Olsen’s corporate and finance practice in the Cayman Islands have advised 99, the Brazilian ride-sharing application and Uber competitor, on its sale to China’s Didi Chuxing.
The deal, which values 99 at more than USD1 billion, comes a year after Didi secured a minority stake in the company after investing USD100 million in 99’s last round of financing. 99 has been a long-standing client of Carey Olsen with the offshore law firm advising it in its earliest days as a technology start-up in 2013, as well as taking it through a number of rounds of financing.
The Carey Olsen team advising 99 on the Cayman aspects of the acquisition was led by partner Alistair Russell, who was assisted by associate Robert Coombes.
Russell (pictured) says: “What is most pleasing about this deal is that as a firm we have been advising 99 from its very earliest days and have seen the business grow through its various cycles to become a great success. The evolution of 99 also underlines the attractiveness of the Cayman Islands as a jurisdiction from which to structure venture capital funds, not only in Latin America, but globally too.”
The acquisition of 99 fits with Didi’s efforts to branch out overseas and its desire to expand beyond China, particularly in light of the growing number of Chinese customers who travel internationally.
