Two Chinese startups separately backed by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Tencent Holdings Ltd. have agreed to a merger that will create a $15 billion provider of local services like restaurant reviews and movie bookings, people with knowledge of the matter said, Bloomberg reported. The combination of Meituan.com, part-owned by Alibaba, with Tencent-backed Dianping.com may be announced as soon as Thursday, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. China’s largest Internet companies are investing heavily in the $1.6 trillion online-to-offline services market, betting that the use of smartphones and tablets to book everything from hotel rooms to car rides will become mainstrem.
