Didi shares slump after insiders blocked from selling stock

The move to block employees from unloading their shares comes just as early investors are set to be able to sell stock on Monday at the end of Didi's 180-day lock-up following its June IPO

Didi Global Inc. slumped on Monday after the Financial Times reported that current and former employees of the firm have been banned from selling any of their stock indefinitely. 
 

Shares of the Chinese ride-hailing giant fell as much as 3.9% in premarket trading and are down 1.1% as of 8:20 a.m in New York. The move to block employees from unloading their shares comes just as early investors are set to be able to sell stock on Monday at the end of Didi’s 180-day lock-up following its June initial public offering.

While Didi’s outside investors -- which include Uber Technologies Inc., SoftBank Group Corp. and Tencent Holdings Ltd. -- will still be able to offload shares on Monday, according to the FT, they likely face steep losses after months of selling pressure.

A flurry of regulatory crackdowns by authorities in both Beijing and Washington have dogged the stock since its trading debut. Didi shares have lost 60% of their value in just short of six months of trading, erasing about $41 billion in market capitalization over that span. Earlier this month Didi said it had begun preparations to delist from U.S. exchanges and pursue a listing in Hong Kong.