Shanghai Metersbonwe Fashion & Accessories, the mainland's largest home-grown casual wear maker and retailer, will launch its initial public offering on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in the middle of this month.
It expects to net 1.8 billion yuan (HK$2.05 billion) to help it expand and stave off foreign rivals such as Esprit and Zara.
The fashion chain operator would offer 70 million shares or 10 per cent of its enlarged capital on the small to medium-sized enterprises board on August 13 or 14, the company said in a statement yesterday.
The listing would help the company further raise brand awareness and improve profitability, it said.
The Shanghai-based company, which hired Hong Kong pop star Aaron Kwok Fu-shing as its spokesman, now operates 2,211 stores. It plans to open 68 outlets with proceeds from the share sale.
The company had a 0.95 per cent share of the mainland's 357.1 billion yuan casual clothing market in 2006, according to the statement.
Rising incomes on the mainland have attracted dozens of global fashion brands to tap the market with annual growth of 14 per cent.
