Meituan Shares Gain On Reaching Antitrust Settlement

Chinese food-delivery firm Meituan MPNGF paid a penalty of over $533 million for engaging in anticompetitive practices, the Wall Street Journal reports.
The State Administration for Market Regulation alleged Meituan's violating antimonopoly laws by effectively forcing merchants to sell exclusively on its platform, known as "er xuan yi," or "choose one out of two."
In April, China penalized Alibaba Group Holding Ltd BABA a record $2.8 billion or 4% to its domestic annual sales for engaging in the practice.
Meituan accepted the penalty "with sincerity," adding that it would refrain from the "er xuan yi" practice in the future.
The report added that China's antitrust regulator set the penalty at 3% of Meituan's total domestic revenue last year, equivalent to about $17.8 billion. It also ordered the firm to revamp its operations and submit compliance reports for the next three years.
Meituan will also have to return worth $200 million in "exclusivity deposits" to restaurants and supermarkets that sell food and other goods on its platform.
Shares of Meituan have shed ~43% from their February record high and now have a market capitalization of ~$200 billion.
Price Action: MPNGF shares traded higher by 4.73% at $34.10 on the last check Friday.