China Groupon Wannabes in Fund-Raising Frenzy 中国团购网站掀起融资狂潮

Want to raise a few hundred million dollars? Then just become a group buying Web site in China. That’s the only conclusion I can reach, after reading reports that the latest China Groupon wannabe, called 55Tuan, has raised a neat $200 million in funding from a group including Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS). (English article; Chinese article) That would come less than a month after rival group buying site Dianping raised $100 million from a group including Sequoia Capital (English article), which came just weeks after yet another rival called Lashou also pulled in $111 million from a group that included London’s Milestone Capital Partners (previous post) All this financial bulking up, which comes as the real Groupon itself has recently launched a service in China, looks a lot like the beginning of another race to market by these three big group buying sites, all seeking to win a hefty premium for whoever gets there first. As many of you will recall, Renren (NYSE: RENN), often called the Facebook of China, received a hefty premium when it became not only China’s, but also the world’s first major social networking site to go public earlier this month, beating out hometown rival Kaixin for the honor. This case with 55Tuan, Lashou and Dianping looks like a similar race, as any could easily beat out Groupon to become the world’s first major group buying site to list. The market has definitely cooled somewhat to China IPOs since Renren’s listing, but I’d still bet that whichever of the trio is first to market will get a nice premium for its efforts.

Bottom line: A recent spate of massive investment in 3 major Chinese group buying sites marks the beginning of a race to be first to market between Lashou, Dianping and 55Tuan.

想融个几亿美元？在中国做团购网站就可以了。这是读到窝窝团(55Tuan)获得高盛<GS.N>等机构2亿美元投资的报导後，我能得出的唯一结论。而不到一个月前，红杉资本等刚刚为大众点评团购网投资1亿美元，再往前数几周，中国团购群雄中另外一家网站拉手网则获得伦敦麦顿投资等机构共 1.11亿美元投资。在美国团购网站Groupon最近也在中国推出团购服务的情况下，这些庞大的融资数目看起来更像是三家团购网的上市赛跑，它们都希望首先上市而赢得巨大溢价。前段时间，中国两家社交网络–人人网<RENN.N>与开心网的上市赛跑中，人人网最终笑到最後，本月稍早成为中国、也成为全球首家上市的社交网站。窝窝团、拉手网与大众点评网看起来也走上了同样的赛道，三家网站任何一家应都可能轻易击败Groupon，成为全球第一家上市的大型团购网站。人人网上市後，市场对於中国企业IPO的反应已有所冷淡，但我仍然打赌三家网站中首先上市的一家会获得巨大溢价。

一句话：最近中国拉手、大众点评与窝窝团三家团购网站大举融资已经为上市赛跑拉开了序幕。

Related postings 相关文章:

◙ Lashou Pulls in More Bucks in Race With Groupon 拉手网拉来更多资金与Groupon抗衡

◙ China Groupon Charging for IPO Gate

◙ Groupon in China: Real Deal or Same Old Story?