Ant Group-backed smart vending machine start-up Ubox seeks Hong Kong IPO after failing to list in A-shares market
- Beijing Ubox Online Technology Corp had been working for more than four years to list on the A-shares market, but withdrew its IPO application last year
- The company recorded over US$204 million in total losses over the past two years, which it blamed on the coronavirus pandemic
A smart vending machine operator backed by Chinese fintech giant Ant Group has filed a draft prospectus for an initial public offering in Hong Kong after it failed to list on the mainland’s A-shares market.
According to the prospectus, 16.68 per cent of Beijing Ubox Online Technology Corp, which recorded over US$204 million in total losses in 2020 and 2021, is owned by Shanghai Yunxin Venture Capital, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ant Group. Ant is an affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding, owner of the South China Morning Post.
Shanghai Yunxin is the second-largest shareholder of Beijing Ubox, behind only the start-up’s founders Wang Bin and Chen Kunrong, who jointly own a 21.99 per cent stake.
The terms of the IPO and timetable of the listing have been redacted from the document.
The planned IPO in Hong Kong marks a renewed fundraising attempt by Ubox, which in 2019 delisted from the National Equities Exchange and Quotations, an over-the-counter market on the mainland.