Didi, the Chinese rival Uber, would leave the bag in 2017 – The Financial

may Apple Inc. will not have to wait long to see the benefits of its investment of one billion dollars in the Chinese car sharing service Didi ChuXing.

Didi is targeting an initial public offering in New York next year, according to people familiar with the matter. The choice of timing depends on how the battle develops in China Uber Technologies , the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private said.

That would put China’s application ahead of its US rival in the exit to the bag, as Uber has said it wants to wait as long as possible.

the greatest application to share vehicles China is in the process of raising around 3 billion dollars in a round of funding, which is part of the contribution of billion dollars made by Apple and last week pushed the valuation of the company at about 26 billion dollars, people with knowledge of the matter said.

Didi already has financing Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Tencent Holdings Ltd., has achieved the balance in about half of the 400 cities in which it operates, while Uber makes large investments for both drivers and passengers.

“It’s a very good time, because the company is on a roll in terms of gaining market share and users, and that will not last forever, “said Li Yulie, an analyst at RHB Research Institute Hong Kong Snd. “Didi could face pressure from investors who want to see the return on their investment.”

Didi, officially known as Xiaoju Kuaizhi Inc ., refused to comment on any possible IPO in a statement by email.

Tim Cook , the CEO of Apple , posted on his Twitter account a photo that shows him using the taxi service company in China next to Jean Liu , president of Didi. The publication posted hundreds of comments. Cook was in Beijing, where he spoke to a developer forum.

Given the current valuation of Didi, the IPO in the US could be the biggest ever by a Chinese company since Alibaba went public in 2014. The company is among a list of applications that include carpools and Uber Lift Inc. that could carry out a public offering.

Didi has not yet decided which bag and which banks would trade contract, the people said.