Meituan Class B 3690

STORY: Uber launched a takeover bid for Delivery Hero on Thursday. It gave the German firm a $14.8 billion equity value. Were a deal to go ahead it would create the largest food-delivery group outside China. And it comes as competition with U.S. and European rivals heats up. An acquisition would further the U.S. ride-hailing firm's efforts to build a global food-delivery business. It's facing growing competition from Just Eat, which is owned by Dutch group Prosus. And its U.S. rival DoorDash, which has expanded aggressively. Delivery Hero said Wednesday it would create a platform covering 99 c

Hong Kong shares ended higher, led by technology stocks. The Hang Seng Index gained 1.3% and the Hang Seng Tech Index added 2.0%. Among major stocks, Alibaba Group gained 3.1%, Baidu added 2.6% and Meituan rose 4.