From hotpot to jackpot: Haidilao founding couple’s fortune still worth US$7 billion as stock comes off the boil on debut
Haidilao shares surge up to 10 per cent before Hong Kong’s fifth largest float loses steam, but still end slightly higher
Zhang Yong, CEO of hotpot chain Haidilao, and his wife saw their combined stake in the business fall by US$7 million on the IPO’s trading debut, but it was still worth a cool US$7 billion at market close, even as investors took some profit following an initial surge.
China’s largest hotpot restaurant chain – one of the country’s most popular, which serves up boiling soup broth with meat, seafood, vegetables and noodles – briefly jumped 10 per cent to hit HK$19.64 in early trading, with a peak market cap of HK$104 billion (US$13.3 billion).
The surge pushed the founding couple’s 57.7 per cent stake past HK$60 billion in value for a moment.
But shares lost steam in later trading, before ending at HK$17.82, only slightly higher than its IPO price of HK$17.80.
The couple’s interest had also fallen to HK$54.5 billion by market close.
“The company has a high valuation [at current share prices] and is even more expensive than tech stocks, so I am not surprised to see profit taking bring its shares back to near the listing price,” said Louis Wong Wai-kit, director of Phillip Capital Management.