Caricatures of the top three meal delivery services in the domestic online food delivery market: ele.me, Meituan and Baidu Waimai, from left to right respectively.[Photo/VCG]

Chinese Internet giant Baidu will sell its meal ordering and delivery services, Baidu Waimai, to rival ele.me and the deal is expected to be announced by ele.me as soon as this week, reports China Business News.

Baidu Waimai will continue to operate as an independent entity for a year, according to the report.

This follows the failure of Baidu to ink a deal for its meal delivery service with Meituan and SF Express.

Baidu Waimai had reportedly been in merger talks with Meituan since September 2016, which failed to materialize.

Baidu Waimai then tried to engage in a deal with SF Express to operate its food delivery business.

However, the two sides could not reach a consensus on price and conditions, and negotiations broke down, according to China Daily.

Meanwhile, according to reports, e-commerce giant Alibaba is negotiating for a full takeover of ele.me through a new share purchase agreement. Alibaba currently controls about 28 percent of ele.me after an investment worth over $1.2 billion in 2016.

Alibaba and Ant Financial Services Group have been searching for a new round of financing for ele.me worth at least $1 billion, reports Bloomberg.