China's Meituan and Dianping said to agree to US$15b merger

Hong Kong

TWO Chinese startups separately backed by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and Tencent Holdings Ltd have agreed to a merger that will create a US$15 billion provider of local services like restaurant reviews and movie bookings, people with knowledge of the matter said.

The merger of Meituan.com, a group-buying site part-owned by Alibaba, with Tencent-backed consumer-reviews service Dianping.com may be announced as soon as Thursday, the people said, asking not to be identified becaus…