China’s Meituan buys bike-sharing firm Mobike for US$2.7 billion in mobility push
Meituan-Dianping, one of the world’s most valuable start-ups, is pushing into mobility-related services as it expands its offerings for its 320 million annual active buyers.
Meituan-Dianping, China’s largest provider of on-demand services from food-delivery to ride-hailing, trumpeted its ambitions to push deep into mobility by acquiring Mobike, the country’s biggest bicycle-sharing firm.
The two companies confirmed the acquisition on Wednesday in a joint statement, saying they would be in a better position to fulfill their mission of making people “eat better and live better”. A person briefed on the terms said Meituan is paying US$2.7 billion for Mobike.
Mobike will operate as an independent entity and brand after the takeover. Meituan CEO Wang Xing will become chairman of the board at Mobike, with Wang Xiaofeng remaining as CEO. The other two senior executives of Mobike, Hu Weiwei and Xia Yiping, will remain president and chief technology officer, respectively.
“Mobike will help Meituan customers to go to restaurants, go back home and travel around, becoming the best connection in forming a closed-loop shopping experience,” Wang said in an internal employee memo later published on Meituan’s WeChat account. Hu Weiwei, a co-founder of Mobike, said in a WeChat post that “it is a new beginning” and that there’s “huge space for imagination” to work with Meituan.
China’s internet companies are expanding beyond their traditional confines as they seek to cross-sell products and services to their users. Meituan is the world’s fourth largest unicorn with a valuation of US$30 billion, behind Xiaomi and above Airbnb in the ranking, according to CB Insights.
Meituan started off as a group-buying portal, before it merged with Dianping, a restaurant recommendation site. The combined entity is now pushing into food delivery and recently introduced ride-hailing in several Chinese cities.