China's Meituan-Dianping Files for IPO, Reveals Loss of Nearly $3 Billion in 2017 -- Update

By Liza Lin and Stella Yifan Xie 

HONG KONG-- Fast-growing Chinese technology startup Meituan-Dianping applied to list in Hong Kong and seeks to raise billions of dollars to help finance its growth strategy in what is a highly competitive internet marketplace.

The Beijing-based online services provider is one of the country's most valuable private tech companies. Its current investors include Priceline Group Inc., the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Chinese social media and gaming firm Tencent Holdings Ltd. Meituan said it lost money last year but its revenue more than doubled, and it expects to maintain rapid growth as more Chinese consumers spend money online.

Meituan didn't disclose how much it plans to raise in the stock sale, but the company is targeting a valuation of more than $60 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. Companies listing in Hong Kong typically sell at least 10% of their shares when they go public. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Bank of America Merrill Lynch are the main banks handling Meituan's IPO.

In a filing with Hong Kong's stock exchange, Meituan said it generated 33.9 billion yuan ($5.2 billion) in revenue in 2017, up 161% from a year earlier.

The company posted a loss of 18.99 billion yuan last year, its prospectus said.

The company also said its adjusted net loss was 2.85 billion yuan in 2017, about half of what it was for the two years before that. The adjusted figure strips out share-based compensation expenses and gains and losses from investments, asset sales and discontinued operations. Meituan said it had 19.4 billion in cash equivalents at the end of last year.

Write to Liza Lin at [e-mail] and Stella Yifan Xie at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 24, 2018 23:49 ET (03:49 GMT)

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