Meituan-Dianping bets big

Tencent-backed company has lined up $1.5b from five cornerstone investors

Despite its money-losing business and lofty valuation, Meituan-Dianping, the online food review and delivery company, has attracted big-name early investors to its IPO that could raise as much as $4.4 billion.

The Beijing-based company has lined up $1.5 billion from five cornerstone investors, including its major backer and largest institutional shareholder Tencent Holdings Ltd, which accepted six-month lockups in return for large allocations and will take a combined one-third of the shares being offered.