Chinese app company Meituan Dianping made a stellar debut on the stock exchange in Hong Kong, jumping +7% in the morning trading hours on Thursday. The stock ended the day up +5%.
The company - whose app offers consumer services including lunch reservations, buying movie tickets, booking vacations and hailing car rides - raised $4.2 billion from its IPO, pricing its shares near the top of its target range. Thursday’s trade valued the company at about $50 billion.
Formed in 2015 by the merger of two smaller companies Meituan and Dianping, the company is seen as a potential competitor to Chinese tech giant Alibaba and ride-hailing firm Didi Chuxing.