Chinese food delivery giant Meituan states it’s raised almost $10 billion at a sale of convertible bonds and added stocks, with strategies to purchase and create delivery technology

HONG KONG — Chinese meals delivery giant Meituan raised almost $10 billion at a sale of convertible bonds and extra shares and strategies to spend those funds in expanding and developing delivery technology.

The Beijing-based company, China’s biggest food delivery system,” stated in a filing to the Hong Kong stock market it marketed 187 million extra shares within an top-up positioning at 273.80 Hong Kong dollars per year, increasing about $6.6 billion.

Over the last year Meituan has invested aggressively in market and community group-buying since it competes with rivals such as Alibaba and Pinduoduo in those hotly-contested sectors.

Meituan includes a market valuation of approximately $217 billion. It also said it intends to spend the cash it raised on development and research of self-driving vehicles, drones delivery and other technologies.

In neighborhood group-buying, consumers residing in exactly the exact same area can group together to get groceries or other things in bulk to get a discount. The model is particularly common in Chinese cities and is appealing to e-commerce companies since they may save on storage and delivery costs in regards to mass purchases.

Aggressive investments to acquire market share in these new industries of e-commerce have come at a price.

Ratings agencies Moody’s, S&P and Fitch lowered their ratings Meituan after those outcomes, mentioning lower profitability amid hefty investments.

The requirement for Meituan’s stocks and bonds underscores powerful desire for tech stocks among investors as Beijing cracks down on the online industry over anti-monopoly concerns.

Earlier this month, Beijing slapped China’s biggest e-commerce firm Alibaba Group Holding using a record $2.8 billion good for antimonopoly behaviour, while many different businesses, such as Tencent and Baidu, were fined for failing to disclose takeovers or investments in other businesses.