Backers of Uber Techologies Inc. are urging management to sign a deal with transport giant Didi as the negotiations are getting too costly.
Uber has put in billions of dollars to expand in the Chinese market. The ride-booking company has been trying to get a bigger share of customers.
One Uber investor who declined to be identified said that he had several meetings with Didi. However, the discussions still didn't secure a partnership. He refused to release other details.
Didi was also showing signs of interest to move forwards. Recently, Jean Liu, the president of Didi, had talks with Bill Gurley in California. She also met with Emil Michael, Uber's vice president for business.
In spite of efforts from both companies, it appears that both companies are more interested in expanding independently.
Didi is still the major market shareholder in the transport-booking market. A product of a merger between Didi Dache and Kuaidi Dache, Didi's current worth is valued at $28 billion.
Didi is backed by China's internet giants Tencent Technologies and Alibaba. The company's headquarters is in Beijing. The company has already 14 million drivers located in 400 cities in China.
Uber is an American transport network company and is already available in 449 cities worldwide. It is valued at $68 billion and is based in California.
Other investors think that Uber and Didi couldn't agree on how profits would be split between the two. Both companies refuse to give up their share.
When asked to comment, Didi did not send a response.
Many companies refuse to merge but eventually pursued it because of pressure from investors. This was true in the case of Didi and Hangzhou Kuaidi Technology Co., the largest taxi operator in China.