HONG KONG, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Chinese community groceryshopping app Xingsheng Youxuan has raised about $2 billion in anew funding round that values the company at $6 billion prior tothe fresh capital injection, three people with knowledge of thematter told Reuters.
Private equity firms FountainVest Partners, PrimaveraCapital Group and KKR & Co are among investors in thisround, two sources said. Internet and gaming giant TencentHoldings, which is an early backer of XingshengYouxuan, also invested in this round, one of them said.
The fundraising, signed just before the Lunar New Year, wasled by Sequoia Capital China and has also attracted propertydeveloper China Evergrande Group and Singapore'ssovereign wealth fund Temasek, said a separate personwith direct knowledge.
Xingsheng Youxuan's spokesman Li Hao declined to commentwhen contacted by Reuters. Representatives for Sequoia China,FountainVest and Tencent declined to comment. Primavera, KKR,Temasek and Evergrande did not immediately respond to queriesfor comment.
All the people declined to be named as the information hasnot been publicly announced.
The fundraising comes as demand for grocery delivery inChina has surged over the past year as more consumers order fromthe comfort of their homes due to COVID-19 social distancingrestrictions.
However, regulators said in December they would tightenoversight of the community group buying sector, which allowsgroups of local residents to get discounts by buying together inbulk, urging internet giants not to compete for market sharewith unreasonably low prices.
Headquartered in central China's Hunan province,three-year-old Xingsheng Youxuan delivers online bulk orders tooffline grocery stores located inside or near residentialcommunities.
It now runs the service in 13 provinces and municipalities,covering more than 6,000 counties and over 30,000 towns,according to its website.
With more than 8 million daily orders, Xingsheng Youxuanestimated it had a gross merchandise value of 40 billion yuan($6.18 billion) in 2020, the website said.
In December, Chinese e-commerce retailer JD.Com saidit would invest $700 million in the company.
Xingsheng Youxuan's investors also include U.S. investmentfirm Tiger Global Management, according to its website.
($1 = 6.4698 Chinese yuan)(Reporting by Kane Wu in Hong Kong and Yingzhi Yang and SophieYu in Beijing; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)