Meituan-Dianping, a major Chinese on-demand services app, is reportedly (link in Chinese) planning a Post-A1 Non-Deal Roadshow (NDR) both in the US and the UK and will head for a pre-IPO hearing at the Hong Kong Securities and Exchange (HKEx) on the 23rd of August.
This latest update comes after its pre-A1 roadshow in Hong Kong in June. A1 refers to listing application form A1 with the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong, while an NDR is a series of in-person meetings with investors that don’t feature a public offering. The purpose is to build and strengthen relationships in hopes of creating long-term value.
According to IPO早知道, the WeChat channel where this information first surfaced, the potential international investors Meituan wants to meet with include Capital Research, Capital World, Blackrock, Fidelity, Hillhouse Capital Group, and JP Morgan Asset Management – signaling positive global responses thus far. IPO早知道 translates roughly to “IPO news early.”
Investors’ responses are important for Meituan’s trading debut, especially considering the disappointing day-one performance of Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi’s trading debut after poor responses during its roadshow.
This IPO fundraising could be paramount for Meituan’s expansion. It has very swiftly expanded from being essentially a Groupon clone to other sectors like food delivery, movie ticketing, short-term rentals, hotel-booking, and even ride-hailing. In fact, just yesterday, it launched its very own Meituan Autonomous Delivery (MAD) platform, an intelligent delivery concept where driverless delivery vehicles will be tasked to deliver meals from restaurants to consumers.
This recent development though still in its early stage and comes right after Alibaba-backed Ele.me anounced plans to spend US$440 million to boost its market share. This seems to suggest that the battle for the food delivery market is set to escalate.
Editor: Nadine Freischlad