US$6b taxi app merger shows rise of China's boutique investment banks

Hong Kong

WHEN little-known Chinese taxi-hailing app Didi Dache needed US$15 million to grow its business two years ago, a local upstart investment bank stepped in to help it raise the funds from social networking giant Tencent Holdings.

That paid off last month for Fan Bao, 44-year-old founder of boutique firm China Renaissance, as Didi agreed to merge with bigger rival Kuaidi Dache to create a US$6 billion company. Didi tapped Mr Bao to put together the deal, sidestepping Wall Street heavyweights that dominate China's US$347 billion M&A market.