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China’s burgeoning middle class, which increasingly is going online for
everything from ordering lunch to booking hotel rooms, is fueling expectations
that an 8-year-old startup with an innovative smartphone app will go public at a
lofty $60 billion valuation this year.
已成立八年的初创公司美团点评(Meituan-Dianping)今年料将以高达600亿美元的估值上市，如此高的预期主要源于中国日益壮大的中产阶级，他们正越来越多地在互联网上进行订餐、订酒店等各种消费活动。
Few U.S. or Chinese firms offer the same breadth of services as Meituan
does, and it hopes to carve a spot for itself among Chinese internet giants
Alibaba, Baidu and Tencent.
美团点评这样的服务跨度在中美企业中都十分罕见。该公司期望能像阿里巴巴、百度和腾讯一样跻身中国互联网巨头之列。
The Beijing-based company, backed by social-media giant Tencent, has an app
used by more than 320 million people to buy cinema tickets, book lifestyle
services or get restaurant recommendations.
这家总部位于北京的公司得到了社交媒体巨头腾讯的支持。超过3.2亿人使用其应用来购买电影票、订购生活服务或获得餐厅推荐。
The company’s up-and-comer cred was cemented six months ago when Apple
chief executive Tim Cook ate dumplings at a Shanghai restaurant with Meituan
founder Wang Xing, who taught him how to order and pay with his smartphone. Mr.
Cook posted a photo on his Chinese social media account, saying he was seeing
some “great innovation” on the trip.
美团点评的雄心六个月前成为焦点。当时该公司创始人王兴和苹果首席执行长库克在上海一家餐厅里一起吃生煎，席间王兴教库克如何使用智能手机点餐和付款。库克后来在自己的微博账户上发帖称，这趟中国行让他看到了一些“很棒的创新”。
Alibaba was once an investor in Meituan, but sold its stake after Meituan
acquired delivery service Dianping—backed by rival Tencent—in 2015. Tencent has
put more money into the merged company, leading the most recent funding round of
$4 billion last October.
阿里巴巴曾是美团的投资者，但在2015年美团收购了大众点评后出售了所持股份。大众点评由阿里巴巴的竞争对手腾讯支持。腾讯向合并后的美团点评投入更多资金，牵头了去年10月最近一轮规模40亿美元的融资。
“We are talking about eating, traveling and all the local services,” said
Neil Shen, founding partner of Sequoia Capital China, one of Meituan’s backers.
“This is a $1 trillion sector. If you are a dominant player, you are definitely
worth a lot.”
美团点评投资人之一、红杉资本中国基金(Sequoia Capital China)创始合伙人沈南鹏(Neil
Shen)表示：“我们谈论的是饮食、旅游和所有本地服务。这是一个价值1万亿美元的行业。如果你占据主导地位，你肯定价值不菲。”
Meituan is best known for food delivery, with a fleet of half a million
uniformed drivers on scooters ferrying noodles, fried rice and milk tea from
restaurants to customers, their routes guided by central computers.
美团点评最为人熟知的业务仍是送餐服务，该公司约有50万身穿制服的电动车骑手将面条、炒饭和奶茶从餐馆送到顾客手中，他们的送餐路线由中央电脑指引。 |
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发表于 2018-6-30 18:16:16