Miniso prices Hong Kong listing at HK$13.8 per share, raising a less-than-expected US$72 million after its US shares fell

Miniso set its Hong Kong IPO price at HK$13.8 each, a 9-per cent discount to the Wednesday close of its New York-traded stock
The Guangzhou-based retailer will issue 41.1 million shares to retailers, which will start trading in Hong Kong on July 13 under the stock code 9896

IPO

Georgina Lee

Published: 12:13pm, 7 Jul 2022

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Miniso will raise a lower-than-expected HK$567 million (US$72 million) from its secondary stock offer in Hong Kong, after an 11-per cent slump in the low-cost retailer’s stock price in New York.

The Guangzhou-based company will sell its shares to retail investors at HK$13.8 each, 37 per cent less than the HK$22.1 initially sought by Miniso and 9 per cent discount to its American depositary receipts (ADRs) after they fell 11 per cent last week to US$7.78 in New York.

Miniso will issue 41.1 million shares to investors, which will start trading in Hong Kong on July 13 under the stock code 9896, according to a statement to the city’s stock exchange. The shares are fully fungible with Miniso’s ADRs, with each depositary receipt exchangeable for four Hong Kong-listed shares.

An overallotment option exists, allowing Miniso to sell another 6.2 million more shares if there is strong demand.

A Miniso shop at a shopping centre in Beijing on October 15, 2020. Photo: AP.

Miniso is the latest New York-listed Chinese company to seek secondary listings outside the United States amid rising concerns of being expelled from Wall Street. US lawmakers have been beating a steady drum roll since the Trump administration to expel US-listed Chinese companies, citing everything from supposed links to the People’s Liberation Army to a festering dispute over auditing oversight.

More than 120 Chinese companies are on a list for possible delisting from New York, a spectre that may set in by 2023 if the US accounting oversight board fails to get access to their audit working papers, according to the US Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC), citing a law that was enacted by Trump during the twilight of his presidency in 2020.

A Miniso shop in the Hubei provincial capital of Wuhan on October 4, 2018, sporting a signage with katakana characters that is no longer in use. Photo: Shutterstock

Miniso, which sells anything ranging from home decors, small electronics, toys, cosmetics and underwear, runs more than 3,100 stores in China and about 1,900 stores overseas, including Hong Kong, North America and India.

It operates on a franchise model whereby its retail partners open and operate their own stores under its brand name, as they share part of the in-store sales proceeds and be responsible for the store’s capital expenditure and operating expenses.

“If we fail to maintain the relationship with our retail partners … or fail to attract new partners to join our store network, our business, results of operations and financial condition could be materially and adversely affected,” it said in its draft prospectus.

The company reported an interim profit of 338.6 million yuan (US$53.1 million) in the first half ended June 2021, from a 1.7-billion yuan loss in the same period in 2020, according to Miniso’s prospectus.

Bank of America, Haitong International and UBS are the joint sponsors for the Hong Kong IPO.