China Internet Plus Group, the China-based online local services company formed from the merger of Meituan and Dianping, has raised $2.8bn in funding from investors including internet company Tencent, China Money Network reported yesterday.
Group buying company Meituan and local listings and reviews platform Dianping agreed a $15bn merger in October, and news emerged shortly afterwards the newly formed company would seek additional funding.
Tencent is providing $1bn for the round, which China Internet Plus is raising at an $18bn valuation, according to a funding document, while investment firm DST Global is investing $350m and TrustBridge Partners $150m.
The round, which could eventually reach $3bn, also includes investment bank China International Capital and private equity firm Capital Today.
E-commerce group Alibaba, which led Meituan’s $50m series B round back in 2011 before contributing to a $300m series C in May 2014, was reportedly set to sell a stake sized in the high single digits for up to $1bn, but new details of the prospective divestment have not been revealed.
Meituan had raised about $1.1bn pre-merger from backers also including Hillhouse Capital, Fidelity Management and Research, General Atlantic, Sequoia Capital, Northern Light Venture Capital and Walden International, last raising money in a January 2015 round that valued it at $7bn.
Dianping had raised more than $1.5bn from Tencent, TrustBridge, smartphone producer Xiaomi, conglomerates Wanda and Fosun, Sinagporean state-owned fund Temasek, FountainVest Partners, Sequoia Capital, Qiming Venture Partners and Lightspeed Venture Partners, and was valued at $4bn as of an $850m series E round in March.
The newly formed company will hold an estimated 80% of China’s group buying market. It intends to float in the US in the next two or three years, according to reports in China.