Meituan-Dianping raises $4bn in new cash

Online group-buying and restaurant-services operator Meituan-Dianping said Thursday it has raised a fresh $4 billion in funding, as US travel services giant Priceline joined an A-list of investors who valued the company at $30 billion, Caixin reports. Other investors in the latest funding round – one of the biggest of all time for a Chinese high-tech firm – included Sequoia Capital, Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC Private Ltd., Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Trustbridge Partners, Meituan-Dianping said in a statement. “With the completion of this funding round, Meituan-Dianping has entered a completely new phase,” said CEO Wang Xing. “We have a mission of letting people ‘eat better and live better,’ and now Meituan-Dianping will take on even more social responsibilities.” As part of its new involvement with the Chinese company, the Priceline Group Inc. has signed a strategic partnership to work with Meituan-Dianping’s own travel service. Priceline is already an investor in Ctrip.com International Ltd., China’s leading online travel services provider.