美團點評是中國的一家“線上到線下”（O2O）服務平臺，提供從食品外賣到機票預訂在內的各種服務。近日美團點評已經確認，該公司將尋求以550億美元的估值在香港上市，IPO日期預計為9月20日。然而在中國互聯網市場競爭已近白熱化的當下，美團不僅面臨著競爭對手的圍剿，同時投資者的熱情也在下降。

美團是第二家根據港交所新規采取“同股不同權”結構赴港上市的企業。美團希望通過發行4.8億股B股，籌集44億美元的融資，其中每股代表一個投票權。而該公司的A股每股折合10個投票權，將主要由該公司CEO王興和其他兩位高管持有。

今年早些時候赴港上市的小米則是第一家采取了雙重股份結構的大陸公司。但小米在港上市以來表現不佳，從而給這套股權體系打了一個負面廣告。最近，中國大陸的證券監管機構宣布，在大陸地區暫不能購買同股不同權的股票（也就是小米的股票），因為他們認為這一結構過于復雜，不便于大陸投資者理解。

而最近，京東CEO劉強東在美性侵被捕一事，也凸顯了投票權集中在少數企業高管手里，是一件多么危險的事。

此外也有跡象表明，投資者對中國科技股的興趣正在減弱，這主要是由于這些科技股承諾的豐厚利潤始終沒有兌現。今年夏天，由于收益疲軟，騰訊和阿里巴巴的股價都出現了大幅下跌，而美團則甚至還沒有盈利。

今年4月，美團以27億美元的價格收購了連年虧損的共享單車運營商摩拜，公司的財務狀況進一步惡化。今年頭四個月，美團的虧損已達33億美元，幾乎達到去年同期虧損額的三倍。

押寶美食大戰

為了投資者證明自己可以盈利，美團已經停止了在其他一些領域的擴張，集中精力做好自己的核心業務——食品配送。中國的食品配送市場是一個400億美元的大蛋糕，而美團占據了其中59%的份額。該公司的首席財務官陳少暉表示，他對“美團的食品配送業務非常有信心，相信它能盈利。”

在美團的發展道路上，阿里巴巴是個繞不開的競爭對手。阿里巴巴曾是美團的早期投資者之一，但在2015年美團與騰訊注資的大眾點評合并后，阿里巴巴已出售了其所有的大部分美團股份。阿里拋棄美團之后，投資了中國第二大食品外賣公司“餓了么”，并于今年4月獲得了該公司的全部所有權。

就在美團赴港上市的前夕，阿里巴巴將餓了么與它旗下的生活方式服務應用“口碑”進行了合并，形成了一個足以與美團點評分庭抗禮的強大對手。

在與阿里巴巴開展競爭的同時，美團也在從網約車等其他領域退卻。去年10月，美團曾嘗試推出過一款網約車服務，并希望年內在全國七大城市鋪開。但上周這個計劃卻被擱置了。一方面是由于隨著滴滴連續出事被整改，中國對網約車的監管環境日益嚴苛；另一方面也是由于美團無力在多個領域同時開展競爭。

因此，美團聲稱，它短期內不會急于向海外擴張。因為小黃車Ofo的失敗還殷鑒不遠——今年夏天，由于出現資金危機，Ofo不得不倉促全線退卻。美團CEO王興在一次媒體發布會上表示：“海外市場確實有很多機會，但我們在中國有非常好的客戶群。我們希望扎根中國，首先集中精力深耕國內市場。”（財富中文網）

譯者：樸成奎?

Meituan Dianping, China’s multiservice “online-to-offline” (O2O) platform that provides everything from food delivery to flight tickets, has confirmed it is seeking a $55 billion valuation from a Hong Kong IPO, setting the date for Sept. 20. But with China’s already overcrowded tech sector facing a downward turn, Meituan is competing not only against rival companies but also diminished investor enthusiasm.

Meituan will be the second company to take advantage of new regulations that allow companies to offer weighted voting rights in Hong Kong. The so-called superapp hopes to raise $4.4 billion by issuing over 480 million Class B shares, each of which entitles the shareholder to one vote. The company’s Class A shares, which are good for 10 votes, will be held by CEO Wang Xing and two other top executives.

Xiaomi was the first company to list dual class shares in Hong Kong, doing so earlier this year, but the smartphone maker’s weak debut was a poor advertisement for the new system. Mainland regulators excluded Xiaomi from the Hong Kong stock connect, a scheme that allows investors in mainland China to buy up Hong Kong stock, because they thought the weighted voting structure was too complicated for mainland investors to understand.

More recently, the arrest of JD.com CEO Richard Liu has highlighted the dangers of allowing weighted-voting-structure companies to consolidate power in the hands of just a few executives.

There are also signs that investors are losing their appetite for Chinese tech stocks as promises of bountiful profits go unmet. Shares in Tencent and Alibaba have plummeted this summer after both posted weak earnings, while Meituan has yet to even reach profitability.

In April, Meituan bought loss-making bike share operator Mobike for $2.7 billion, pushing company finances further into arrears. Meituan recorded losses of $3.3 billion for the first four months of the year, nearly three times its deficit for the same period in 2017.

Betting on winning a food fight

To assure investors that it can turn a profit, Meituan has pulled back from other expansion efforts to focus on its core sector: food delivery. Meituan commands 59% of China’s $40 billion food delivery market, and CFO Chen Shaohui has said he is “very confident in [Meituan’s] food delivery business turning profitable.”

But here Meituan must compete with the might of Alibaba. Alibaba was an early investor in Meituan but sold most of its stock when the start-up merged with Tencent-backed Dianping in 2015 to form the combined entity it is today. After ditching Meituan, Alibaba invested in Ele.me, China’s second largest food delivery company; it took full ownership of the company in April.

As rumors of Meituan’s imminent IPO intensified, Alibaba merged Ele.me with its own lifestyle services app, Koubei, creating a discernible rival to Meituan Dianping’s multiservice platform.

Already confronting the challenge of going toe-to-toe with Alibaba in a war for food delivery dominance, Meituan has retreated from other areas, such as ride-hailing. The platform began trialling a ride-hailing service last October and hoped to roll out the feature to seven major cities this year. That plan was put on hold last week, partially because of the harsher regulatory environment that has come from the scandal embroiling industry leader Didi, but also because Meituan can’t afford to fight for space in multiple sectors.

To that end, Meituan claims it will not be racing to expand overseas, unlike its bike-sharing rival Ofo, for example, which had to beat a hasty retreat this summer when it faced a cash crunch at home. “There are plenty of opportunities in the overseas markets, but we have a very good customer base in China,” Meituan CEO Wang Xing said during a press conference. “We would like to be rooted in China and focus on the domestic market first.”