China jeweller Chow Tai Seng plans public listing in Shenzhen
The mainland jeweller, whose name is sometimes confused with Hong Kong competitors Chow Tai Fook and Chow Sang Sang, plans to raise 1.46 billion yuan to fund its expansion
Mainland China jeweller Chow Tai Seng plans to go public in Shenzhen with an initial public offering to raise 1.46 billion yuan (HK$1.63 billion) to fund its expansion.
The Shenzhen-based jeweller could be confused with Hong Kong jewellers Chow Tai Fook and Chow Sang Sang by many mainland consumers, but has no connection with the two Hong Kong rivals.
“The brand is reminiscent of the Hong Kong ones that I am familiar with,” said Winnie Wang, a Shanghai consumer in her 30s. “Though I haven’t tried any Chow Tai Seng [jewellery] yet.”
While the jeweller has to battle competitors to win over discerning consumers in major cities like Shanghai and Beijing, the home-grown company is leveraging its sprawling mainland network, especially in lower-tier cities, to achieve rapid earnings growth.
By the end of June Chow Tai Seng had a network of 2,288 outlets on the mainland, according to its prospectus submitted to the China Securities Regulatory Commission in November. Of these, nearly 2,000 were franchise operations while 294 stores were self-operated, with the locations mainly in third- or fourth- tier cities.
