Alpha-Centric ESG Research

Kyle Rudden

<p>This is a pre-IPO ESG assessment of <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/didi-chuxing-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:27467:1" rel="noopener">DiDi Chuxing (DIDI US)</a>, China's leading ride-hailing platform. DiDi is set to finalise its US$4 billion IPO at an implied valuation of US$65 billion – the largest IPO of a Chinese issuer on a U.S. exchange since Alibaba's (BABA US) US$25 billion IPO in 2014.</p><p>Impressive, except for one minor nuance. That US$65 billion is less than DiDi's earlier expectations of US$100 million, despite strong interest. Economic factors (e.g., growth rates, profitability) had a lot to do with the lower valuation. Regulatory risk and uncertainty probably factored in as well.</p><p>Therein lies the quandary of this ESG analysis. Regulatory risk and uncertainty.</p><p>DiDi is committed to corporate social responsibility, and its ESG performance is strong (though not perfect) in critical areas under its control. DiDi is reducing emissions, improving safety, rooting out corruption, and is lightyears ahead of its peers on gender equality and empowerment of women.</p><p>DiDi is doing all the right things, where it has some semblance of direct control.</p><p>But then, there's that quandary. DiDi's ESG achievements are overshadowed by regulatory risks and uncertainty, all beyond DiDi's control. Nearly concerning enough to justify a bearish imperative but the "control" issue – proactive ESG positives, versus passive ESG negatives – ultimately won out.</p>

This is a pre-IPO ESG assessment of DiDi Chuxing (DIDI US), China's leading ride-hailing platform. DiDi is set to finalise its US$4 billion IPO at an implied valuation of US$65 billion – the largest IPO of a Chinese issuer on a U.S. exchange since Alibaba's (BABA US) US$25 billion IPO in 2014.Impressive, except for one minor nuance. That US$65 billion is less than DiDi's earlier expectations of US$100 million, despite strong interest. Economic factors (e.g., growth rates, profitability) had a lot to do with the lower valuation. Regulatory risk and uncertainty probably factored in as well.Therein lies the quandary of this ESG analysis. Regulatory risk and uncertainty.DiDi is committed to corporate social responsibility, and its ESG performance is strong (though not perfect) in critical areas under its control. DiDi is reducing emissions, improving safety, rooting out corruption, and is lightyears ahead of its peers on gender equality and empowerment of women.DiDi is doing all the right things, where it has some semblance of direct control.But then, there's that quandary. DiDi's ESG achievements are overshadowed by regulatory risks and uncertainty, all beyond DiDi's control. Nearly concerning enough to justify a bearish imperative but the "control" issue – proactive ESG positives, versus passive ESG negatives – ultimately won out.

Pre-IPO ESG Analysis: DiDi's Exemplary ESG Achievements Eclipsed By Regulatory Risks and Uncertainty

Head of Research, IPOs & Placements, Aequitas Research

Sumeet Singh

Head of Research, IPOs & Placements

IPOs and Placements coverage across Asia Pacific

Aequitas Research

We cover all listing across the Asia Pacific along with follow-up placements. As of Dec 2020, our team had covered 539 IPOs with a hit rate of 73.5% and 685 placements with a hit rate of 66.8%.

We combine fundamental bottom-up views with our proprietary quantitative framework to provide a holistic coverage across new listings and placements. Our coverage includes pre-IPO notes before the deal is launched, follow-up analysis once the deal is live and post-listing trading analysis as well.

Equity Capital Markets

<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/knowledge-atlas-technology-joint-stock-company-limited-class-h" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:44500:1" rel="noopener">Knowledge Atlas Technology (2513 HK)</a> (Zhipu) is looking to raise around US$4.3bn via a primary placement.</li>
<li>Zhipu is one of the leading players in China’s domestic LLM space. Its IPO linked lockup had recently expired.</li>
<li>In this note, we will talk about the placement and run the deal through our ECM framework.</li>
</ul>



Knowledge Atlas Technology (2513 HK) (Zhipu) is looking to raise around US$4.3bn via a primary placement.
Zhipu is one of the leading players in China’s domestic LLM space. Its IPO linked lockup had recently expired.
In this note, we will talk about the placement and run the deal through our ECM framework.


Aequitas: Zhipu Placement - Well Flagged US$4.3bn Raising, but Not Cheap by Any Measure

<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/knowledge-atlas-technology-joint-stock-company-limited-class-h" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:44500:1" rel="noopener">Knowledge Atlas Technology (2513 HK)</a> (Zhipu) raised around US$640m in its Hong Kong IPO in January 2026. The lockup on its cornerstone investors is set to expire soon.</li>
<li>Zhipu is one of the leading players in China’s domestic LLM space. As per media reports, the company could look to undertake an H-share offering as well.</li>
<li>In this note, we will talk about the lockup dynamics and possible placement.</li>
</ul>



Knowledge Atlas Technology (2513 HK) (Zhipu) raised around US$640m in its Hong Kong IPO in January 2026. The lockup on its cornerstone investors is set to expire soon.
Zhipu is one of the leading players in China’s domestic LLM space. As per media reports, the company could look to undertake an H-share offering as well.
In this note, we will talk about the lockup dynamics and possible placement.


Aequitas: Zhipu Lockup Expiry - US$7bn Release After 19x Gains, US$1bn+ H-Share Offering

GigaDevice Semiconductor / Equity Capital Markets

<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/giga-device-semiconductor-inc-class-h" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:46238:1" rel="noopener">GigaDevice Semiconductor (3986 HK)</a> (GD), an IC design house, raised around US$690m in its H-share listing. Its cornerstone investors will soon be released from their lockup.</li>
<li>GD is a leading specialty memory chip and MCU company in mainland China.</li>
<li>In this note, we will talk about the lockup dynamics and possible placement.</li>
</ul>



GigaDevice Semiconductor (3986 HK) (GD), an IC design house, raised around US$690m in its H-share listing. Its cornerstone investors will soon be released from their lockup.
GD is a leading specialty memory chip and MCU company in mainland China.
In this note, we will talk about the lockup dynamics and possible placement.


Aequitas: GigaDevice A/H Lockup Expiry - US$1.4bn Lockup Release with 5x Gains

Chief Economist

Diana Choyleva

Enodo Economics

Enodo Economics is an independent macroeconomic forecasting company that untangles complexity, challenges the consensus, and makes sense of the future. Our focus is on China – one of the most misunderstood economies in the world, but one of the most important to figure out.  Enodo’s chief economist, Diana Choyleva, has been analysing China for almost 20 years, while Enodo’s team boasts a combined 140 years’ experience covering China’s economy, politics and markets. 

Macroeconomics

<h2>China News That Matters</h2><ul>
<li>A mere 1.41178 billion</li>
<li>Hush now. Central bank calms inflation fears</li>
<li>When a poem, slashes share price</li>
<li>Kerry: China is an adversary</li>
<li>Don’t wait to recharge your batteries</li>
</ul><div class="content-remarks"><p>In my weekly digest China News That Matters, I will give you selected summaries, sourced from a variety of local Chinese-language and international news outlets, and highlight why I think the news is significant. These posts are meant to neither be bullish nor bearish, but help you separate the signal from the noise.</p></div>

China News That Matters
A mere 1.41178 billion
Hush now. Central bank calms inflation fears
When a poem, slashes share price
Kerry: China is an adversary
Don’t wait to recharge your batteries
In my weekly digest China News That Matters, I will give you selected summaries, sourced from a variety of local Chinese-language and international news outlets, and highlight why I think the news is significant. These posts are meant to neither be bullish nor bearish, but help you separate the signal from the noise.

Population/ Commodities/ Meituan/ US-China/ EVs

China

Baidu, Inc. operates an Internet search engine. The Company offers algorithmic search, enterprise search, news, MP3, and image searches, voice assistance, online storage, and navigation services. Baidu serves clients globally.

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Baidu (BIDU US)

Pre-IPO ESG Analysis: DiDi's Exemplary ESG Achievements Eclipsed By Regulatory Risks and Uncertainty

DiDi boasts positive ESG achievements in areas under its control, but there's a big ESG issue beyond its control – regulatory risk. But, proactive...

Kyle Rudden

Aequitas: Zhipu Placement - Well Flagged US$4.3bn Raising, but Not Cheap by Any Measure

Knowledge Atlas Technology (2513 HK) (Zhipu) is looking to raise around US$4.3bn via a primary placement. In this note, we talk about the deal...

Sumeet Singh

Aequitas: GigaDevice A/H Lockup Expiry - US$1.4bn Lockup Release with 5x Gains

GigaDevice Semiconductor (3986 HK) (GD), an IC design house, raised around US$690m in its H-share listing. Its cornerstone investors will soon be...

Sumeet Singh

Population/ Commodities/ Meituan/ US-China/ EVs

In my weekly digest, I will give you selected summaries, sourced from a variety of local Chinese-language and international news outlets, and...

Diana Choyleva

Price Gauge

52-week Range

Market Cap (USDm)

P/E

Dividend (Yield)

Pre-IPO ESG Analysis: DiDi's Exemplary ESG Achievements Eclipsed By Regulatory Risks and Uncertainty

DiDi boasts positive ESG achievements in areas under its control, but there's a big ESG issue beyond its control – regulatory risk. But, proactive...

Kyle Rudden

Aequitas: Zhipu Placement - Well Flagged US$4.3bn Raising, but Not Cheap by Any Measure

Knowledge Atlas Technology (2513 HK) (Zhipu) is looking to raise around US$4.3bn via a primary placement. In this note, we talk about the deal...

Sumeet Singh

Aequitas: Zhipu Lockup Expiry - US$7bn Release After 19x Gains, US$1bn+ H-Share Offering

Knowledge Atlas Technology (2513 HK) is now looking to raise around US$4.3bn via a primary placement. We had covered its lockup release and...

Sumeet Singh

Aequitas: GigaDevice A/H Lockup Expiry - US$1.4bn Lockup Release with 5x Gains

GigaDevice Semiconductor (3986 HK) (GD), an IC design house, raised around US$690m in its H-share listing. Its cornerstone investors will soon be...

Sumeet Singh

Population/ Commodities/ Meituan/ US-China/ EVs

In my weekly digest, I will give you selected summaries, sourced from a variety of local Chinese-language and international news outlets, and...

Diana Choyleva