At the beginning of March this year, Belle Fashion once again submitted its initial public offering (IPO) application documents to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
This time, global financial giants Bank of America and Morgan Stanley jointly acted as sponsors.
Originated in Hong Kong in 1981, Belle Fashion, formerly known as Lihua Shoes, has a huge fashion footwear and clothing empire, and once became the highest-selling women's footwear retailer in the Chinese market.
In 2007, Belle International (the predecessor of Belle Fashion) was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
The market value soared to more than HK$150 billion in 2013, making it a veritable "shoe hegemon".
In 2017, Belle International announced its privatization and delisting, with a market capitalization of about HK$53.1 billion at the time.
The return of the "overlord of the shoe industry" is another attempt after Belle International's privatization and delisting seven years ago.
Belle Fashion, in the IPO prospectus, reviewed the process of privatization and delisting.
During the listing period of about 10 years, Belle International's main business included the Group's business and sports shoes and apparel retail business.
From 2014 until privatization, the Group's footwear business suffered a heavy blow. In the face of weak business and continued financial decline, Belle International decided to transform. In order to avoid short-term market fluctuations and pressures that listed companies may encounter, and to ensure the effective implementation of the transformation, Belle chose to delist.
In April 2017, Belle International introduced Hillhouse Capital and CDH Investment, and completed the privatization and delisting at a valuation of HK$53.1 billion. In July, Belle International withdrew its listing.
After the delisting, Belle International split and restructured its business.
Integrate the sports business line into Taobo. It was successfully listed in 2019.
The remaining footwear business of Belle International was integrated into today's Belle Fashion.
After a series of reforms, Belle Fashion's performance has shown steady growth. As of November last year, the company's revenue was 16.1 billion yuan in just nine months, a year-on-year increase of 128%；net profit was 2.1 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 927%, and the net profit margin reached the highest level in the same period in history of 128%。In terms of retail sales in 2022, Belle Fashion has maintained the first position in the domestic fashion footwear market share for many years, and its market share has further expanded to 123%。
At present, Belle Fashion has 19 core brands, including belle, tata, and staccato, and its business includes women's, men's, children's footwear, clothing and accessories, and many other fields. As of the end of November 2023, the company has more than 8,300 directly operated stores in more than 300 cities in China.
In 2022, Belle Fashion submitted a prospectus, but ultimately failed to go public.
Belle Fashion's re-launch of the IPO is undoubtedly to seek a broader development space and the recognition of the capital market. Zhang Lei, the founder of Hillhouse Capital, mentioned that investing in Belle was a successful "triple return" investment. Reasonable transactions**, underutilized business value of athletic footwear and apparel, and the digital transformation of traditional businesses. The listing of Belle Fashion is a key step to achieve this "triple return".
Whether Belle Fashion's impact IPO can succeed and add a new chapter to its status as the "hegemon of the shoe industry" is a question worth paying attention to. Along with other readers who pay attention to Belle Fashion, we are waiting for good news.
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