The proceeds will help Mixue, whose franchise has more stores than Starbucks Corp. globally, open even more tea shops and lean on its scale to stay ahead of the competition. China’s bubble-tea market is forecast to surge to US$71 billion ($95.32 billion) in three years from US$9.6 billion in 2018, though it’s highly competitive with vendors regularly engaging in price wars.
Mixue Group, operator of China’s largest bubble-tea chain, plans to raise HK$3.45 billion ($596 million) in a Hong Kong initial public offering to help it fend off competition in the fast-growing market for the freshly made drinks.
The company is selling 17.06 million shares at HK$202.50 apiece, with an option to increase the number of shares depending on demand, it said in a statement Friday. Trading is scheduled to begin March 3.
