Chinese hot pot chain Haidilao is planning for an IPO to fuel expansion. / Bloomberg Chinese hot pot chain Haidilao is planning for an IPO to fuel expansion. / Bloomberg
Chains

China’s Dominant Hotpot Chain Is Planning for an IPO

Haidilao International Holding Ltd., China’s biggest hotpot restaurant chain, has started gauging investor demand for its planned Hong Kong initial public offering.

The Beijing-based firm kicked off so-called investor education Monday, according to terms for the deal obtained by Bloomberg. The IPO could raise as much as $1 billion, people familiar with the matter said earlier.

Any deal would add to the $24.5 billion of first-time share sales in Hong Kong this year, more than double the $9.5 billion of deals during the same period in 2017, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Meituan Dianping, the Chinese food delivery giant, has set terms for a Hong Kong IPO of as $4.5 billion, people with knowledge of the matter said.

Haidilao plans to use 60 percent of IPO proceeds to finance expansion, while 20 percent would go toward developing and implementing new technology, the terms show. The company aims to use 15 percent of proceeds to repay debt, the remainder for working capital.

The chain’s restaurants are known for serving spicy broths and providing attentive customer service, which includes giving free manicures, shoulder massages and dance performances. CMB International Capital Corp. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are joint sponsors for the share sale.

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.

This article was written by Crystal Tse from Bloomberg and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to [email protected].

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