Didi decreased after Tencent clarified it did not buy new shares in the Chinese ride-hailing giant

February 14, 2022: -Shares of Chinese ride-hailing firm Didi fell in pre-market trade in the U.S. Friday after Tencent clarified that it did not surge its stake in the company.

On Thursday, a regulatory filing appeared to show that Tencent added nearly 1.78 million Didi Class A Ordinary shares at the end of the previous year, bringing its stake in the ride-hailing form to 7.4%.

But a company spokesperson told CNBC on Friday that these were shares Tencent had that were last undisclosed and that it had not bought any more Didi stock.

On Thursday, After an initial report said that Tencent had increased its stake in Didi, the ride-hailing firm’s stock popped more than 8%. However, after Tencent clarified its position on Friday, Didi’s stock decreased in pre-market trade in the U.S.

Didi is a charged company at the moment, reportedly gone ahead with a U.S. listing despite concerns from regulators. Days after its IPO, China’s cyberspace regulator opened a cybersecurity review into the tech firm. Didi’s shares have lost almost 70% of their value from their IPO price.

In December, Didi says that it would delist from the New York Stock Exchange and make plans to go public in Hong Kong instead.

Tencent has been more cautious about its investments recently and has looked to pare back stakes in companies instead increase them. Last month, Tencent cut its stake in Singapore-based gaming and e-commerce firm Sea, and in December, the internet giant said it would give most of its shares in online retailer JD.com away to shareholders. Tencent is a prolific investor in companies across the world and in China.

Those moves came following months of regulatory tightening in China. Beijing issued recent anti-monopoly rules and introduced regulations in areas from data protection to the governing of algorithms.