E-commerce firm Alibaba has agreed to sell its stake in China-based local listings and group buying platform China Internet Plus for roughly $900m, the Wall Street Journal reported today.
China Internet Plus is the company formed by the $15bn merger between group buying company Meituan and local listings and reviews site Dianping in October 2015.
The company raised $3.3bn from undisclosed investors earlier this month, though reports as far back as November indicated that Alibaba, an investor in Meituan pre-merger, was seeking to sell a stake sized at around 7%.
Alibaba was reportedly looking to divest its stake so it could focus on its own local services platform, Koubei. Alibaba and financial services affiliate Ant Financial invested a reported $1bn in Koubei in 2015.
Alibaba first became a shareholder in Meituan in its $50m series B round in 2011, returning for a $300m series C three years later. Meituan has not disclosed whether Alibaba was among the investors in a $700m round in January 2015 that valued Meituan at $7bn post-money.
The firm’s shares will be sold to existing investors at a price that values China Internet Plus at $12.5bn, rather than the $18bn valuation at which it just raised money, due to Alibaba’s shares having less in the way of downside-protection rights.
Other investors in China Internet Plus include internet company Tencent, smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi, and conglomerates Wanda Group and Fosun.