Sequoia Capital’s Neil Shen Reduces Holdings of Meituan

According to the equity information of the HKEx, Neil Shen, the founding and managing partner of Sequoia Capital China and director of food delivery giant Meituan, had recently reduced his share holdings in the food delivery company.

On March 31 and April 6, Shen’s holdings were reduced by about 38.5424 million shares, and his shareholding ratio dropped to 3.98%, meaning that at least HK $6.031 billion will be cashed out.

Since April last year, with the continuous fall of Meituan‘s share price, Shen has reduced his share holdings several times, from 397 million shares in 2020 to 219 million shares at present.

SEE ALSO: Share Holdings of Founding and Managing Partner of Sequoia Capital China in Meituan Fall to 5.29%

Sequoia Capital China, led by Shen, invested $12 million in Meituan in its round A financing. At that time, it held 22.5% of the shares of the food delivery platform. Subsequently, the venture capital firm participated in Meituan‘s the B, C, and E rounds of funding.

According to Meituan‘s financial report released in March, the company had garnered a revenue of 179.1 billion yuan ($2.81 billion) last year, a year-on-year increase of 56%, while the company’s adjusted net loss reached 15.6 billion yuan. In Q4 last year, its revenue was 49.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 30.6%, while the adjusted net loss totaled 3.9 billion yuan.

At present, Meituan has three major business divisions: food and beverage take-out, travel, and new businesses. The first division is still the main source of revenue for the company, while the new business ventures experienced the fastest growth rate, exceeding 80%. The financial report shows that the food and beverage take-out division generated a revenue of 96.3 billion yuan last year, a year-on-year increase of 45.3%. The travel division achieved a revenue of 32.5 billion yuan last year, a year-on-year increase of 53.1%. The revenue of new business and other segments last year was 50.3 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 84.4%.

However, as one of the core assets of Meituan‘s delivery business, the scale of delivery personnel is shrinking. By the end of last year, there were 5.27 million food delivery personnel available through the platform, a year-on-year decrease of 44.53%.

Meituan and smartphone maker Xiaomi‘s recent cooperation upgraded the former’s instant retail business. Users can search for Xiaomi‘s offline sales channels in their locale while using Meituan‘s APP. Users can also purchase Xiaomi‘s products including smartphones, computers, wearables, home appliances, personal care products and others.