美團(tuán)點(diǎn)評(píng)是中國(guó)的一家“線(xiàn)上到線(xiàn)下”（O2O）服務(wù)平臺(tái)，提供從食品外賣(mài)到機(jī)票預(yù)訂在內(nèi)的各種服務(wù)。近日美團(tuán)點(diǎn)評(píng)已經(jīng)確認(rèn)，該公司將尋求以550億美元的估值在香港上市，IPO日期預(yù)計(jì)為9月20日。然而在中國(guó)互聯(lián)網(wǎng)市場(chǎng)競(jìng)爭(zhēng)已近白熱化的當(dāng)下，美團(tuán)不僅面臨著競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手的圍剿，同時(shí)投資者的熱情也在下降。

美團(tuán)是第二家根據(jù)港交所新規(guī)采取“同股不同權(quán)”結(jié)構(gòu)赴港上市的企業(yè)。美團(tuán)希望通過(guò)發(fā)行4.8億股B股，籌集44億美元的融資，其中每股代表一個(gè)投票權(quán)。而該公司的A股每股折合10個(gè)投票權(quán)，將主要由該公司CEO王興和其他兩位高管持有。

今年早些時(shí)候赴港上市的小米則是第一家采取了雙重股份結(jié)構(gòu)的大陸公司。但小米在港上市以來(lái)表現(xiàn)不佳，從而給這套股權(quán)體系打了一個(gè)負(fù)面廣告。最近，中國(guó)大陸的證券監(jiān)管機(jī)構(gòu)宣布，在大陸地區(qū)暫不能購(gòu)買(mǎi)同股不同權(quán)的股票（也就是小米的股票），因?yàn)樗麄冋J(rèn)為這一結(jié)構(gòu)過(guò)于復(fù)雜，不便于大陸投資者理解。

而最近，京東CEO劉強(qiáng)東在美性侵被捕一事，也凸顯了投票權(quán)集中在少數(shù)企業(yè)高管手里，是一件多么危險(xiǎn)的事。

此外也有跡象表明，投資者對(duì)中國(guó)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(rùn)始終沒(méi)有兌現(xiàn)。今年夏天，由于收益疲軟，騰訊和阿里巴巴的股價(jià)都出現(xiàn)了大幅下跌，而美團(tuán)則甚至還沒(méi)有盈利。

今年4月，美團(tuán)以27億美元的價(jià)格收購(gòu)了連年虧損的共享單車(chē)運(yùn)營(yíng)商摩拜，公司的財(cái)務(wù)狀況進(jìn)一步惡化。今年頭四個(gè)月，美團(tuán)的虧損已達(dá)33億美元，幾乎達(dá)到去年同期虧損額的三倍。

押寶美食大戰(zhàn)

為了投資者證明自己可以盈利，美團(tuán)已經(jīng)停止了在其他一些領(lǐng)域的擴(kuò)張，集中精力做好自己的核心業(yè)務(wù)——食品配送。中國(guó)的食品配送市場(chǎng)是一個(gè)400億美元的大蛋糕，而美團(tuán)占據(jù)了其中59%的份額。該公司的首席財(cái)務(wù)官陳少暉表示，他對(duì)“美團(tuán)的食品配送業(yè)務(wù)非常有信心，相信它能盈利?！?

在美團(tuán)的發(fā)展道路上，阿里巴巴是個(gè)繞不開(kāi)的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手。阿里巴巴曾是美團(tuán)的早期投資者之一，但在2015年美團(tuán)與騰訊注資的大眾點(diǎn)評(píng)合并后，阿里巴巴已出售了其所有的大部分美團(tuán)股份。阿里拋棄美團(tuán)之后，投資了中國(guó)第二大食品外賣(mài)公司“餓了么”，并于今年4月獲得了該公司的全部所有權(quán)。

就在美團(tuán)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(wù)應(yīng)用“口碑”進(jìn)行了合并，形成了一個(gè)足以與美團(tuán)點(diǎn)評(píng)分庭抗禮的強(qiáng)大對(duì)手。

在與阿里巴巴開(kāi)展競(jìng)爭(zhēng)的同時(shí)，美團(tuán)也在從網(wǎng)約車(chē)等其他領(lǐng)域退卻。去年10月，美團(tuán)曾嘗試推出過(guò)一款網(wǎng)約車(chē)服務(wù)，并希望年內(nèi)在全國(guó)七大城市鋪開(kāi)。但上周這個(gè)計(jì)劃卻被擱置了。一方面是由于隨著滴滴連續(xù)出事被整改，中國(guó)對(duì)網(wǎng)約車(chē)的監(jiān)管環(huán)境日益嚴(yán)苛；另一方面也是由于美團(tuán)無(wú)力在多個(gè)領(lǐng)域同時(shí)開(kāi)展競(jìng)爭(zhēng)。

因此，美團(tuán)聲稱(chēng)，它短期內(nèi)不會(huì)急于向海外擴(kuò)張。因?yàn)樾↑S車(chē)Ofo的失敗還殷鑒不遠(yuǎn)——今年夏天，由于出現(xiàn)資金危機(jī)，Ofo不得不倉(cāng)促全線(xiàn)退卻。美團(tuán)CEO王興在一次媒體發(fā)布會(huì)上表示：“海外市場(chǎng)確實(shí)有很多機(jī)會(huì)，但我們?cè)谥袊?guó)有非常好的客戶(hù)群。我們希望扎根中國(guó)，首先集中精力深耕國(guó)內(nèi)市場(chǎng)?！保ㄘ?cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

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.”