What’s New: China’s largest laundry detergent maker Blue Moon filed for an initial public offering (IPO) Monday with the Hong Kong stock exchange.
The Guangzhou-based company didn’t disclose the size or timing of the IPO, but it was reportedly seeking to raise as much as $1 billion from the offering.
The company named China International Capital Corp., Citigroup and BofA Securities as the leading sponsors for the offering, according to the prospectus.
The background: Blue Moon, founded by Chairwoman Pan Dong and her husband and Chief Executive Officer Luo Qiuping, is backed by private equity firm Hillhouse Capital Group. Pan owns nearly 89% of the company’s stock. Hillhouse invested $46 million for a 10% stake.
The company’s factories were shut down in the first quarter of 2020 amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Even though all factories have resumed production, sales of laundry detergent dropped from the same period last year, the company said.
In 2019, Blue Moon reported a net profit of HK$1.08 billion ($139 million), an increase of 254% from the previous year. It had the biggest share of the country’s laundry detergent and liquid hand soap market from 2017 to 2019, according to business consulting firm Frost & Sullivan.
Contact reporter Denise Jia (huijuanjia@caixin.com) and editor Bob Simison (bobsimison@caixin.com)
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