Yahoo Finance IPO watch: ByteDance backed Manner Coffee mulls Hong Kong listing
Manner Coffee, a Shanghai café chain backed by ByteDance, is mulling an initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong as soon as next year.
According to Bloomberg, which cited people familiar with the matter, the listing could potentially raise at least $300m (£220m).
The Chinese firm, which started up in 2015 as a roadside coffee stall, has been in talks with investment banks to explore its floatation.
Discussions are reportedly only in the early stages, and timings and details of the share sales are subject to change, the newswire said.
Watch: IPO mania continues
In 2019, Manner started expanding aggressively, opening more stores in Shanghai as well as in other cities. Now the brand has 137 stores in Shanghai and 14 additional stores in Beijing, Suzhou, Chengdu, and Shenzhen.
Boasting cheaper prices than rivals such as Starbucks (SBUX) or Costa, it is also backed by a venture arm of food delivery company Meituan (3690.HK).
It is one of a number of Chinese drinks companies looking to list on the Hang Seng (^HSI). Heytea has tapped UBS Group (UBS) for a possible market debut in the city next year, Gu Ming and Lelecha are also looking at separate IPOs.
Heytea, which is famous for its cheese-foam teas, is backed by Hillhouse, IDG and Sequoia China and could raise at least $500m in its IPO.
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The news comes as the number of stock market listings across the globe this year has surpassed all IPO activity throughout 2020.
According to new data from EY, global volumes have risen 87%, and proceeds have increased by 99% year-on year.
The most recent quarter of 2021 was the most active third quarter by deal number and proceeds in the last 20 years. Quarter three saw 18% more deals than the previous third quarter record, which was set in 2007, and 11% higher proceeds than the last record-setting Q3 in 2020.
The IPO market continued to boom as the global economy recovered from the coronavirus pandemic, with a total of more than 1,600 stock market listings so far this year, raising over $330.7bn.
On a regional level, Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa (EMEIA) outperformed the Americas and Asia-Pacific (APAC), with a surge of almost 500 IPOs year-to-date.
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