Hong Kong-based shoe retailer Walker Group, which is due to launch an initial public offering next month, plans to spend HK$150 million to HK$200 million to open 190 new self-managed shops in the next two years, according to chairman Edmond Huang Wenyi.
The company is hoping to raise between HK$300 million and HK$500 million from a Hong Kong initial public offering next month, according to local press reports, and next week launches its roadshow for investors.
Walker's share sale comes hot on the heels of the blockbuster listing by Belle International Holdings, the mainland's largest retailer of women's footwear, which begins trading on Wednesday.
Belle's HK$8.68 billion IPO was 500 times oversubscribed and tied up a record HK$434 billion in funds from retail orders - more than Industrial and Commercial Bank of China's mammoth listing last year.
The Walker offering has attracted as cornerstone investors, Japanese trade and investment firm Itochu and the Yale University Endowment, each with a 1.5 per cent stake.
Walker's rapid rollout of new stores - 90 per cent of which will be located on the mainland - marks a 50 per cent increase from its current total of 392 outlets. Of these, 386 are self-managed, with six franchised locations in Taiwan. In the mainland, the group operates 329 retail outlets located inside department stores.