RESTAURANT review and delivery giant Meituan Dianping plans to file for an initial public offering (IPO) of about US$6 billion in Hong Kong as soon as this month, according to sources familiar with the matter, the city’s second multibillion-dollar public listing by a tech startup this year.

The company is considering selling about 10 percent of the company, the minimum required under Hong Kong exchange rules, to avoid dilution, said one of the sources.

Meituan is targeting a valuation of roughly US$60 billion, the sources said, although the valuation and fundraising target won’t be in the initial filing documents. With the first filing in June, the actual listing of Meituan shares is likely around October, the sources said.

Meituan is also considered a prime candidate to sell shares on the mainland as part of the government’s program to give more opportunities to domestic investors. It’s not clear yet when the sale of Chinese depository receipts would take place. Meituan declined to comment on a potential IPO and said that if it has specific fundraising plans, it will announce them at the appropriate time.

The IPO is another sign of China’s rising might in the technology industry. A generation of up-and-comers like Meituan are emerging to build out an industry that has been dominated by Tencent Holdings Ltd., Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Baidu Inc. Smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp. is said to plan raising about US$10 billion by selling shares in Hong Kong and on the mainland.

“They’ve expanded to the point where they have successfully created a system,” said Mark Natkin, managing director of Beijing-based Marbridge Consulting. “They need to get a lot more capital to further strengthen that.”

Meituan was most recently valued at US$30 billion, making it the world’s fourth most valuable startup, according to CB Insights. It is sort of a mash-up of Groupon, Yelp and Deliveroo with restaurant reviews, group-buying discounts and deliveries of food, groceries and other goods. It has more recently expanded into areas such as ride-sharing and travel.

With a few taps to navigate its smartphone apps, Chinese customers can order up hot meals, groceries, massages, haircuts and manicures at home or in the office. Founded in 2010 by Wang Xing, it handled US$57 billion in transactions last year between about 320 million active buyers — about the size of the American population — and more than four million merchants. (SD-Agencies)